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Juneteenth has become a national holiday. Here's what it commemorates...
Transcript
00:00What do you know about Juneteenth?
00:01I know absolutely nothing.
00:02Juneteenth was the day that...
00:06Slaves were free? No.
00:08Wow, this is embarrassing.
00:09I know nothing, and I know that sounds so bad.
00:12The area that I lived in didn't really teach us anything.
00:15It's all share some thoughts with you.
00:16Okay.
00:30Two years?
00:45That's really crazy.
00:46I find out that that they got freed.
00:49I would want to know if I was freed immediately.
00:51Texas at the time was part of the frontier.
00:54It was part of the far Western regions of the country at that time.
01:02It took news a while to get there, but it's also really important to note that one of the
01:07biggest reasons that it took so long to learn about the end of the war and about the Emancipation
01:14Proclamation is that the enslavers, the people whose emblems and the substance of their wealth
01:22lay in their enslaved property, they did not want to lose that.
01:28They didn't want to lose their power and their wealth.
01:31They refused to comply or to act in accord with the Emancipation Proclamation as well.
01:42We've been putting band-aids on systemic racism for centuries.
01:55And it's finally time to look back to our past and make sure that we are celebrating
01:59the history of everyone that makes this country great and not just a select group of people.
02:05Because of it being recognized, we can finally get sort of like humanity can treat us properly
02:12and respectfully, you know?
02:15It's important because we don't want to be viewed as subhuman.
02:19You know, you're a human being first.
02:21It's your spirit and your mind that counts, in my opinion.
02:25It's an extremely important day for civil rights activists and civil rights activists
02:31It's an extremely important day for civil rights.
02:34The day that we finally were able to push forward as a country and end slavery in that
02:40form throughout the entirety of our nation.
02:44I think, one, it's really important to recognize about how a lot of, especially a place like
02:47New York City, is just built off of the backs of stolen and exploited labor.
02:51What's your favorite way to commemorate this day?
03:00You don't see me right here right now.
03:02I wear this skin every day.
03:03So every day, I'm a memory.
03:05Every day is for me.
03:06Every day.
03:06But we all come together this one day.
03:08It's actually really nice.
03:10And it's just nice to see all the wholesomeness and people bonding and things of that nature.
03:14What ways do you think non-Black people can commemorate this day, honor this day as allies?
03:20First thing they could do, take some of these statues of these slave owners down.
03:23You know what I mean?
03:24Take down stuff like that.
03:25Chase some laws where we can't get targeted by the police.
03:28Acknowledging it.
03:29We're all here.
03:31We're all trying to make a better future for everyone.
03:33And we'd appreciate the allies doing that with us.
03:36A lot of stuff we got to do.
03:37But you know what?
03:38One step at a time.
03:39It's important to know the history.
03:40And I'm glad that you came up to me today and told me.
03:43Now that I know more, I think maybe I could just spread the word, honestly.
03:47You know, just letting people know about it.