Loosely stuck between May’s annual reflection on the lives sacrificed by US troops and the fancy July celebrations of the country’s collective celebration of 245 years of independence, the relatively quiet recognition of black emancipation. It happened – without much fanfare – on June 19, 1865. The enslaved blacks in Texas discovered that they were free about two years after the signing of the Declaration of Emancipation. About 157 years later, June – also known as Freedom Day – has become an expression of black community love with parades, party blocs and community-based events. There is even a Miss Juneteenth. Blacks today are tangible freer than the generations before them. African Americans enjoy relative autonomy and privileges not experienced by those who lived through segregation, massacres by white mobs and fought for civil rights. But there is still a lot of work to be done. After all, President Biden just last year signed a bill that would make June a federal holiday. In Charlotte, Mayor Vi Lyles last year convened the city’s Executive Board to address inequality and racial inequality through the Mayor’s Tribal Equality Initiative. Lyles called the $ 250 million investment “a turning point” in Charlotte’s history, although the results have not yet been completed. Although full equality for blacks has not yet been achieved, there is always room to celebrate the freedoms they are fighting for in America despite coexisting with the ominous shadow of white supremacy. For Black Charlotteans, true liberation has different meanings and barometers. We asked Black people in Charlotte to share their thoughts on what Juneteenth means to them.

James Ferguson

Civil rights lawyer Provided by James Ferguson
James Ferguson has not missed any of Charlotte’s events in the fourth quarter of June. On the silver anniversary of the celebration in his adopted city, it is not going to start. Ferguson, perhaps the state’s dean of African-American lawyers, had never heard of Judith as a child growing up in Asheville. Only after college did the major in history realize this. He now believes the Juneteenth has quickly gained the importance it deserves, especially given the current talk of George Floyd’s police assassination and others, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Conservatives’ push for the so-called Critical Race. Theory. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in America. But it does not negate the continuing impact of slavery on the American experience, says Charlotte’s lawyer. “We have to start with the proposition that as much as any single event in history, slavery has defined America,” says Ferguson. “It was determined who belonged and who did not. It determined who had power, who had wealth “. It’s still valid, Ferguson believes. “June is a way of recognizing aspects of our history that some Americans, for many reasons, want to suppress,” he said. “To ever make any progress in dealing with the issues of race and slavery means to deal with them honestly … to deal with them head-on. “June reminds us how difficult it was to overcome slavery and all its legacies.” – Michael Gordon

Vi Lyles

mayor of Charlotte Charlotte Mayor Vi Liles speaks to the media about the funds raised for the city’s Racial Equality Initiative at the Charlotte Foundation in Charlotte on Thursday, April 28, 2022. Joshua Komer
For Charlotte Mayor Vi Liles, Judith is part of her African-American history. It is important for people to recognize that years after their emancipation, some remained slaves. “June 1 is a part of our history and I think what made the biggest difference is that the whole country understands what it meant that years after the emancipation people were still slaves. And only when this date was recognized that people could go out and find a place where they had freedom, not necessarily justice, but freedom. Today I think it helps us to reflect on our past, our history in this country and I hope it inspires us to change this history as we move forward, to be a place where freedom makes sense to everyone, that diversity is acceptable. and welcome, that people feel safe where they are and are safe because they do not have to worry about racial inequality and violence and all that. “For me, Juneteenth represents an opportunity, especially for African Americans, to understand the gravity of what we had to endure and the hope we can make possible for the future.” – Birth of Contino

Michael DeVaul

National Director of Boys and Young Men of Color at YMCA USA Having lived for 60 years, it is interesting how these things evolve. In many ways, I am grateful that President Biden made it a federal holiday, but I think people need to remember what we celebrate and why we celebrate it… While we have had these laws (abolishing slavery and promoting causes for civil rights) and it is a celebration of something, the country is actually right now in a situation where if people do not take it back, we will go back. This celebration of emancipation concerns, yes, black and brown people first, but it will also concern humanity. We are all trapped in a part of this cycle of violence, and that is the opposite of freedom if we sit in our homes and are polarized and do not talk to each other. We should work and think (the holiday) as it relates to humanity. Does our current polarization lock other people in or restrict their freedom? … I hope people, yes, will celebrate it, because of people who look like me, Blacks, but we will also see it as a reminder against a enslaved mentality, if we are not careful… What I am saying is, let us use it as an opportunity to embrace humanity. – Blake Douglas

Alessa Brown

Founder and CEO of the non-profit organization For the Struggle, which focuses on combating systemic issues of racial and social injustice, and the CEO of the Justice In Action Law Center, where she handles cases such as discrimination at work and police misconduct. Alesha Brown, 34, is the founder and CEO of Justice in Action Law Center and the founder and CEO of For the Struggle. Alessa Brown
Freedom for blacks means so many different things. It means economic mobility. It means access to the wealth of generations. It means being able to take advantage of systemic things that are not harmful to us. It means fair education, housing, employment, environmental freedom and fair access to health care. Literally anything you can think of that people need in life. Having freedom means that blacks no longer have to bear the brunt of the negative effects of these things, but benefit from the positive and just aspects. June is important because, as a young civil rights lawyer, I understand and acknowledge that we can not talk about achieving any of the things I just said without understanding our past and how it has had a huge impact on the current state of the Black community now. Understanding that Juneteenth means celebrating freedom, liberation and unity within our community – this is incredibly important, which is why Juneteenth is a very important celebration today. – Evan Moore

Clarence D. “Clay” Armbrister

President of Johnson University C. Smith June 1 is important in that it’s time for African-Americans, as descendants of formerly enslaved people, to set a milestone in the 400-year history of our presence in America. When one really considers this moment in time, in some respects it is remarkable what we as a people have surpassed: we were legal residences (over 246 years) more than we were “free” (157 years). And I use the word “free” in quotes because many of us can share stories about our ancestors after 1865 that reflect the fact that Abraham Lincoln’s Declaration of Emancipation, issued in 1863 (two years before the slaves in Texas were finally notified) for freedom “in 1865), did not raise us to the status of our former owners. In fact, my paternal grandfather, a student of Marcus Garvey, almost lynched, …