As we wrap up the academic year, we have a lot to celebrate and reflect on, including our newest national holiday, Juneteenth. Also known as Freedom Day, Juneteenth was officially made a national holiday in 2021, but it has been recognized and celebrated in Texas and many other states for generations.
Juneteenth commemorates the date when the last enslaved African Americans in the United States were declared free. Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865, where they began to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation that President Abraham Lincoln issued on Jan. 1, 1862. Texas was the last Confederate state forced to free enslaved people of color.
To help share this history with our students and staff, the Diversity Programming Board has donated 30 copies of the bestselling book “On Juneteenth,” by Annette Gordon-Reed, free for RCC students while supplies last. An additional 10 copies were donated to the RCC Library collection and will be available for checkout by faculty, staff and students. We encourage you to stop by the library on any RCC campus to check out this impactful book.
This anniversary is also a poignant reminder that, although we have made great strides in the fight for civil rights, the freedoms afforded to Black Americans are still not equitable. Whether it’s disparities in higher education, mass incarceration or simply having the freedom to move about safely in public, we still see the evidence of the “The Other America” referenced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his famous speech.
As we continue on our path toward equity, we encourage you to learn more about the significance and importance of this holiday, and how we can honor it today. In addition to the book mentioned above, below are some additional educational resources.
Have a wonderful summer!
Best,
Lucia Bartscher (she, her, ella)
EDI & Lead Title IX Coordinator
Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Juneteenth Resources
- Article – The Importance of Teaching Juneteenth – AFT/Learning for Justice.
- Video (7 mins) – Why All Americans Should Honor Juneteenth (7 mins) by historian Karlos K. Hill.
- Juneteenth Reading List (National Museum of African American History & Culture).