Happy Juneteenth.
Sloan Campi here, feeling the celebratory spirit of the holiday.
It’s been five years since the U.S. federal government finally recognized the day that enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas were freed. Unfortunately, not unlike the time it took for the news to travel to Galveston back then, it took 156 years to codify the federal holiday.
By the time slaves learned of their freedom, the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln over two years prior to June 19, 1865. Once it did reach Galveston, the Civil War had been over and President Lincoln had been dead for two months.
The saga of civil rights in the United States is a bold, frustrating and often ugly example of how long progress takes. Still to this day, systemic racism exists and injustices are still allowed to happen out of sheer ignorance.
But today is not a day for ignorance. Half-a-decade in, the federal holiday is grasping the progress made toward equality. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People proclaimed today, “Somebody tell our ancestors we’re making them proud,” along with a reminder that progress is still yet to be made.
The NAACP has roots right here in Monterey County, as former president and CEO Ben Jealous was born in Pacific Grove and returned to his alma mater York School last year to speak at the invitation of the school’s Black Student Union.
The future of the movement is alive and well, with Monterey High School graduate Paris Charles showcasing a vast list of accomplishments, serving as president of its chapter of the Black Student Union along with maintaining an above-4.0 GPA and being a founding member of the Monterey County Black Caucus.
Locally, celebrations are happening across Monterey County, from Jealous’ hometown of P.G., to Hartnell College in Salinas, joining celebrations all over the country. Being a federal holiday means that many government offices enjoy a day off in recognition of the event, but also to uplift Juneteenth as a household term. The celebrations here at home include Black music, DJs and community gatherings in the name of Jubilee.
Adding to the nationwide celebration, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama also attended the opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago yesterday, June 18. But Obama also understands the brutal factor that time plays in progress, once saying to comedian Marc Maron that democratic societies are like ocean liners: “Sometimes the task of government is to make incremental improvements.”
Today, we get to celebrate those improvements locally.