When is it the day that Africans in the Americas can celebrate freedom? I don’t know when that day is. That day has not yet come. Until that day comes, we celebrate our commitment to the idea of freedom, our belief in the idea of freedom, our faith in the idea of freedom on Juneteenth. Juneteenth reflects the commitment that until we are all free, none of us are free.
N. Fadeke Castor
Juneteenth marks the date (June 19, 1865) that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were finally read the Emancipation Proclamation — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln made the Proclamation. WGSS affiliated faculty N. Fadeka Castor (Philosophy & Religion and Africana Studies) and Nicole Aljoe (English and Africana Studies) speak to Northeastern News about what Juneteenth means in this country today.
Black history isn’t only for Black people. It’s something for everyone. It affects everyone. But more importantly, there is no holiday that we have where we can look back and think about the fact that, as a nation, we were involved in actively enslaving other people. and that thankfully we came to the realization that this was a horrifying situation that had to be ended.
Nicole Aljoe
