Historian John Henrik Clarke, who spends much of his on-camera time with his eyes closed, invites viewers to take their own inward-looking journey — to an ancient Africa forgotten by history. Through a montage of archival footage, artwork and Clarke’s own narration, he argues that the West did not bring civilization. On the contrary, Europe destroyed what civilized societies it found. The film also traces African influence to modern times and shows how ancient ideas have endured.
Juneteenth is approaching, one of the biggest days of the year for the Black community in America. The day our people were told they were no longer legally enslaved in Texas (The last state to announce). Our ancestors started celebrating every year from then on, of course with unmeasurable obstacles, continuing discrimination, and repression. But they endured and they fought for us.
I’m of the opinion that the end of legal-slavery should not be the focus of this day, after all the fact that it ever happened is unforgivable but rather the strength of our people who endured and pushed. We must remember them.
This day can be very confusing for our kids but with a little work and patience, they can celebrate and become fully aware of what is going on. We can turn the negative past into a positive future and make sure our youth grow up regarding it as much more than just a day that the fam eat lots of Barbecue food!
First off, what us Juneteenth?
Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900, Texas. Source The Portal to Texas History Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. Author: Mrs. Charles Stephenson (Grace Murray). Public Domain image.
I have met numerous people who actually have no full idea of what Juneteenth is, we need to understand not only for ourselves but for our youth. In short…
On January 1, 1863, the emancipation proclamation came into effect, abolishing slavery in America however Texas did not accept this proclamation and kept their slaves for another two years until June 19, 1865. More than 200,000 slaves were held in Texas unaware of their freedom until General Gordon Granger along with some union soldiers forced them to free their slaves.
And each year after many formerly enslaved people celebrated this day. It has grown and grown and is now formally celebrated in around half of the U.S. States with yearly calls to make it a nation-wide public holiday.
Singing songs and digging deeper
Kids LOVE to sing and dance, and we do too even if we can be a bit shy about it! Traditionally there are a number of songs people sing on Juneteenth and it would be great to learn these with your children. These two traditional songs are always popular.
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Lift Every Voice and Sing
In the case of these two songs and most traditional songs that are sung on Juneteenth, there is a history and meaning to the lyrics. It is a great practice to research the history and lyrics of each song with your children to fully appreciate the songs and what they really mean.
Visiting museums and local events
Many museums and local places with have special Juneteenth programs so it is a great day to get the family out of the house and off the screens. You’ll also be mixing with other families and spreading the love.
Check your area for special events and maybe try and swing by a few. Although there may be large state-sponsored celebrations it is always worth swinging by the smaller events at local cultural centers and places that are a little less politically driven (politicians love to exploit this day).
For larger events, National Parks often have excellent events.
Performers demonstrate traditional African song and dance. NPS Photo / Tim Ervin. Source: https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/event-details.htm?id=CA6E09CD-F6D0-2660-128A031F5050B747
Get the kids to pamper the elders
This day is largely about what our ancestors endured. And the elders in our community have gone to hell and back for us. This is an excellent opportunity for our kids (with or help) to show appreciation.
Gather the elders in your family and community and get the kids to arrange some activities with them. It could be that they perform traditional songs. Bake some cupcakes and decorate them with Juneteenth patterns (The Juneteenth flag would be great).
At the end of the celebrations, the elders can tell stories to the children and inspire them to push forward living to the best of their abilities.
Making the cookout a learning experience
We all know that the cookout is one of the most popular events on this day. It’s a great excuse to fill our bellies with an array of Soul Food! BUT we never stop to think about these traditions and especially the origins of the food we come to love and associate with certain days.
This is a great opportunity to not only serve food that has been passed down from generation to generation but also to research its origin and provide little cards next to each plate on the table. Have the kids help with the research, make the signs and act as ambassadors talking to any guests about the food they are eating.
AAReg has a brief history of soul food here to get you started.
Digging deeper into our history
Leading up to Juneteenth and on the day itself, our kids will be in the perfect interest mindset to know more about who we are as people and where we came from.
It is tradition to read works by great people from our past such as Maya Angelou and Ralph Ellison. However, our kids may not even know any of these people so we suggest you get them through a list of some of the people we all need to know about.
A perfect way to do this is by using the Black History Flashcards, Trivia Cards and Playing Cards from our parent company Urban Intellectuals. You can learn more about them here.
You may even just want to start with the Downloadable FREE Black Women’s History matching game available here.
What are your plans?
We hope this article has given you a few ideas and inspiration BUT we would love to hear more from you too about how you intend to celebrate with your kids and what you have done in the past.
Many young children in America are suffering from obesity and are living in neighborhood food deserts. Food deserts are described as “not having a supermarket or super center within a mile of their home” (Ghosh-Dastidar, Bonnie, et al)in urban areas, making it hard to have access to affordable healthy food. This lack of access causes food insecurity with is when a household has “limited access to adequate food and nutritiondue to cost, proximity, and resources.”(3) Low income families are more at risk for both food insecurity and obesity. There are many fast food restaurants, corner stores filled with processed, low nutritional foods, but not much access to fresh fruit, vegetables, or quality meats. This lack of adequate nutrition is affecting children in urban areas and “approximately 25 percent of them are Black and Latino families.” (3) These insecurities in the Black and Brown communities are ridden with high rates of obesity and poor health. Bad health affects the community as a whole. Poor nutrition is known to affect behavior, and your ability to concentrate.
In short, children going to school with poor nutrition aren’t able to concentrate in school which affects their ability to learn and move past their economical struggles. These consequences keep the wheel of poverty going for generations.
It is interesting that because certain foods are marketed to these communities it is not guaranteed that even with fresh produce the people in these neighborhoods would choose those healthier options.
So what is to be done about this epidemic of childhood obesity subsequent of low incomes?
There are some interesting solutions. In Baltimore, they have an online grocery store, “There are no delivery fees, and residents can pay for their orders with Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, formerly known as food stamps.” (Loosemore) This project is a brilliant approach using modern technology to get healthier options to families in these neighborhoods who don’t have the option of a car. What about those with no internet access? Nowadays, it is veryrare to find someone with no wifi, but it exists, so what about residents who can’t use these resources? In 2014, in Oklahoma City the ReFresh Project opened abandoned grocery stores. This project is in partnership with Whole Foods, and it includes programs that “teach people how to cook healthily, grow produce and work in a professional kitchen.” (Loosemore) This initiative helps people not only buy healthier options but learn delicious recipes that encourage them to keep buying and feeding their families. This helps families in those neighborhoods that have closed down grocery stores near by be able to access fresh foods without the use of internet and having to pay for transportation. These solutions are a tremendous help to Black and Brown communities to be able to fight obesity and poor health without completely obliterating their bank accounts.
It is important to feed children, you would think this statement was completely obvious but Black and brown communities across the nation in our urban areas having trouble getting adequate nutrition says otherwise. Childhood obesity is a consequence of this neglect of low income neighborhoods and must be paid attention to. There are many efforts around the country being made and it is important that these programs grow and keep feeding them.
Lets give our children health full lives so that they canchange this world for good.
What are your thoughts on this?
Works cited
1. Ghosh-Dastidar, Bonnie, et al. “Distance to Store, Food Prices, and Obesity in Urban Food Deserts.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Nov. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4205193/.
2. Loosemore, Bailey. “How Can Cities End Food Deserts? Here Are 4 Solutions That Worked.” Journal, Louisville Courier Journal, 15 Jan. 2019, www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2019/01/10/innovative-solutions-ending-food-deserts/2512232002/.
3. “Food Insecure Children.” The State of Obesity, www.stateofobesity.org/food-insecurity/.
Trick or Treat is something I loved as a kid but lets face it, the world these days seems much more scary and from a parent perspective, especially of Black children it is a scary prospect to send them out on the dark streets going door to door. I am absolutely certain that Black whilst trick and treating is one of the terrible offensive crimes that will be committed this year (sarcasm!)!
Anyway, I want to keep this serious but positive at the same time and provide some tips and food for thought for letting our little stars out to have fun but keeping them safe at the same time, honestly it saddens me to write this but we know how bad things are.
We’d also love your input and thoughts so we can make this a much bigger conversation! So please comment below and share this far and wide on social media.
Kids love playing cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, action heroes, and whilst these costumes used to be top on the list we simply can’t let our kids out there with ANYTHING resembling a gun! Swords should probably be off limits too so even though there are plenty of superhero choices make sure they are weaponless. I know this seems extreme but there are plenty of amazing choices.
I LOVE to encourage kids to dress up as their Black heroes and load themselves with knowledge about that person. Angela Davis with her iconic afro, MLK with his mostache! If the kid can give a brief history of who they are they will feel empowered in their costume and like a real superstar!
PS. If you are reading this and you are White, your kids can ALSO dress up as Black icons BUT be tactful. This kid dressing up as his hero Malcolm X from a few years ago was DOPE!
2. Stay in the neigborhood and let each other know the kids will be out tonight
Once a kid gets their first bounty they want to wander, they want to try every new neighborhood and street! But let’s keep this local. If everyone just makes sure they are aware the kids will be out tonight they will also be ready and waiting with plenty of goods!
3. Make sure older teens are dressed up too!
It is not abnormal to ask your older teen or a teen from the street to accompany the younger kids on their rounds, however make sure the fun is continued with them and they dress up (silly) too! They will have MUCH more fun and maybe the young ones will even spare them some candy!
4. Have a few dressed up parents to jump out and scare (keep en eye on) the kids on route!
It can be a fun night for parents too, they can be stationed on route, ready to jump out and scare, and keep an eye on the kids and let them roam a bit more free if the neigborhood is small!
5. Use the candy stash as a teaching tool
Another aspect of safety for our kids is health! Bad habits can form from letting kids stuff their faces and having this much candy suddenly available is going to drive your kids wild!
This is a perfect time to talk about a few subjects, health, savings and economics! Work out a plan for saving some of the candy and eating it on a self reward basis and help the kid realise they can make their windfall last weeks!
