What does Juneteenth mean to you?
Wednesday is Juneteenth. a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. The date goes back to 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their emancipation. During our recent News and Brews community pop-up at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, we asked people what Juneteenth means to them.
Tiffani Saxton
Juneteenth to me is an opportunity to honor the truth of the history that we all share together, an opportunity to consider how we were formed, how we’ve changed, the work that we will continue to do together to make this nation all that it is meant to be.
John Vereen
Juneteenth is a great opportunity to apply history into the present for the betterment of kindness, love integrity, respect and peace. That’s what it really means to me. It’s the opportunity to understand how we behaved in the past and that we gained freedom and the be able to celebrate that, double down on the things that are going to make us better as we move forward.
Benita Wilson
I’m happy that there is a celebration for Black people. And I think it’s another day that allows us to have more information. But I’m also a July 4th person. So that’s the holiday that I’ve celebrated most of my life.
Elizabeth Vanderkamp
I am so grateful to know about Juneteenth because, I’m 60, and in my growing up years there was no such holiday. And I feel like in the past 10 years part of my work has been to re-educate myself and learn about the history I wasn’t taught. But there’s this whole history of women, history of African Americans, history of all kinds of people that have made the United States and I want to be part of celebrating that.
Auroré-Denise Ragston
One thing is it’s a holiday. I like holidays. So I like having the day off. Being a Texan and thinking “we’re number one in the world,” to see one of our days as a holiday and to see what it took to get it recognized. Sometimes when I’m in Texas, that heat is so unbearable. And I think about my ancestors being in that field. My dad, he grew up a sharecropper. But the other part is the sense of pride and gratitude for my ancestors.
Deadly storms sweep through the South, leaving at least nine fatalities
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said all of the state's 120 counties were impacted by the storm. "The biggest challenge of this event is it's everywhere."
Congo says Rwanda-backed rebels occupy a 2nd major city in its mineral-rich east
Rwanda-backed rebels reached the center of east Congo's second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday morning in an unprecedented expansion of their reach in their yearslong fighting.
Protests are set to take place on Presidents Day. Here is why
A series of protests against the Trump administration's actions is planned for Presidents Day.
January 6th … the board game?
Fight for America! is a new art installation about democracy that invites audiences to play a war game — battling over the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Fans in Montreal loudly boo U.S. anthem prior to Americans’ 4 Nations game vs. Canada
It's the second time "The Star-Spangled Banner" drew that reaction in two games the United States has played at the NHL-run international tournament.
At least 18 people are dead after a stampede at New Delhi railway station in India
Many of the victims were Hindu pilgrims who were traveling to the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India. Thousands of people were gathered at the New Delhi railway station waiting to board a train.