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This Juneteenth, a celebration of freedom and time to ‘reimagine that promise'
'The promise of Juneteenth as a new holiday is an opportunity for us to reimagine that promise,' said Imari Paris Jeffries, president and CEO of Embrace Boston, the organization that installed the monument honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King on the Boston Common. 'While it centers Black Americans and the emancipation of Black Americans, it is an opportunity to confirm the promissory note of emancipation.'
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The events are not only moments of celebration and joy, but also of learning Boston's connections to historical events. Didi Delgado, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Cambridge, said locals should also know about how Malcolm X, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Panther Party, and other leaders congregated in Massachusetts during the fight for civil rights.
She said that teaching about such moments during the month of June can help inform others about current issues, such as the
'I think that when we celebrate things, people say, 'Oh, you know, slavery ended, it was over 200 years ago, get over it.' But it's hard to get over it, when the inequities still exist,' Delgado said.
Recent cuts to social welfare programs created during the Civil Rights era, the elimination of art and Black history at the federal level, and the attacks on the immigrant community are among the several issues Jeffries said he hopes people think of this Juneteenth.
Earlier this week, Grace Ross, with People's Pledge of Solidarity, set up her laptop on a wooden stand, turned on a large speaker, and held a microphone outside of the Old State House in Downtown Boston. In front of passing tourists and reenactors, Ross spoke about how Tuesday marked 245 years since slavery was abolished in the Commonwealth.
'We should stand today behind them again, the people who seek their liberty to continue,' Ross said.
When the Massachusetts Constitution went into effect in 1780, slavery was still legal. It would take a series of court cases between 1781 and 1783, now referred to as the
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In the 19th century, the state would become the center of the abolitionist movement. Free Black leaders formed the Massachusetts General Colored Association. The New England Anti-slavery Society, led by William Lloyd Garrison, was created years later.
After President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was established. It was one of the first Black regiments to fight in the US Civil War and comprised of Black men from across the country.
Ross said that speaking about Massachusetts' leadership role when it comes to historical diversity, equity, and inclusion is important to help others understand the role of those rights in modern society.
'Massachusetts passed our Constitution first... And that original trajectory is not a new commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion,' Ross said. 'It's a very old commitment. It's a commitment that was part of the founding, the very instinct of our country to usher in a democracy.'
Rahsaan D. Hall, president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, cautions the narratives that 'feed into liberal exceptionalism, or the idea that we don't have those issues found in the South.'
Hall pointed to the high rates of Black incarceration in Massachusetts and lower rates of wealth, education, and access to healthcare within the Black community.
'When we look at political racial disparities, being first doesn't necessarily hold water,' said Hall, whose 106-year-old organization focuses on economic development and self-efficiency.
Hall added: 'There is a need to continue to advocate and remember from where we come.'
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Maria Probert can be reached at
