Tag: Freedom Day

Precious shared humanity was honored and lifted by the Monumental Reckoning ceremony through Dana King’s 350 African Ancestors created in bronze and exalted unto the earth, sky and descendant beings by the Heart and Soul Center of Light and Glide Church choirs.

This second part of Editor Nube Brown’s interview with Jalil Muntaqim reveals the many ways genocide is utilized by our government and uplifts building the unified movement to end it.

Racial violence against Black America is a regular part of America’s history; hiding and denying this racial violence is also a part of America’s history. For decades, African Americans have complained about police brutality. White America dismissed them or paid little attention and this denial allowed White America to feel innocent.

This brief introduction to Selma’s bottom up history can help students and others learn valuable lessons for today. As SNCC veteran and filmmaker Judy Richardson said: “If we don’t learn that it was people just like us – our mothers, our uncles, our classmates, our clergy – who made and sustained the modern Civil Rights Movement, then we won’t know we can do it again. And then the other side wins – even before we ever begin the fight.”

As we pay tribute to the legends and pioneers of Juneteenth, like early Juneteenth pioneer Rev. Jack Yates (John Henry Yates), we give a special salute and on-stage re-creation of one of the early Juneteenth celebrations, then called “Freedom Day Celebrations,” by ex-slaves in a nightclub.