Erica Barnes collaborated with her mentor, LaWanda Dickens, to write this occasional poem for The Magnolia Literacy Project's 2022 Juneteenth Youth Workshop, scheduled to take place in Brookhaven, MS, on June 17, 2022, 2:00 P.M., at the Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library.
Barnes, an eleventh grader at Monticello high school, recently earned fifth place in the Educators Rising impromptu speaking competition, sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Education. She is among a select group of students recognized with this honor.
Dickens, Founder of The Magnolia Literacy Project, is a faculty member at Jackson State University in the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Speech Communication, where she teaches composition courses.
“Juneteenth: Freedom Delayed, Victory Earned”
January 1, 1863 …
President Abraham Lincoln
Issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Emancipation,
Freedom,
For enslaved Black people.
Proclamation,
A clear declaration or announcement,
Official,
Deal sealed.
But …
As history and written records
Repeatedly reveal,
For Black people,
There’s a gray area.
Emancipation,
Freedom,
For SOME enslaved Black people.
But NOT for all.
Proclamation,
A NOT so clear declaration or announcement,
A deal NOT sealed
For our ancestors in Galveston, Texas,
Who wore the chains of slavery
For two-and-a-half years,
AFTER President Lincoln’s
Proclamation.
June 19, 1865 …
Juneteenth,
The birthday of ALL of our ancestors’
Freedom,
Troops arrived
In Galveston Texas
With Major General Gordon Granger,
Delivering the news
Of emancipation
To our Lone Star
Ancestors.
A day of celebration
Honoring the end of slavery
Honoring the culture
Our ancestors created
IN AMERICA.
But …
As history and written records
Repeatedly reveal,
For Black people,
There’s a gray area.
For 156 years ...
America did not honor
The emancipation
Of our ancestors,
Or the culture they created
IN AMERICA.
June 17, 2021 ...
President Joe Biden
Established
The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act,
Declaring Juneteenth
A federal holiday.
On that day,
What has always been
Important to us,
Was suddenly deemed
Important to America.
Let Juneteenth be a reminder
Of what being Black is.
It is
Excellence,
Power,
Love,
And
Life.
It is
Being dealt
The worst hand
Yet still finding
A way to win.
It is
The very beginning
And
The very end.
Let Juneteenth
Be a reminder,
Not just today,
But every day,
Of those gray areas
Of freedom denied,
Of freedom delayed,
And …
Of victory earned
As you live
Your
Best
Black
Life
On the shoulders
Of
Our ancestors.
Happy Juneteenth!