(will return to grief and mourning with the next post)
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” – Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Today is Juneteenth, the official holiday celebrating the end of slavery. Although the emancipation proclamation was on January 1st, 1863 it took two and a half years, June 19th 1865, for enslaved African Americans to be freed in Galveston, Texas. Since then, this holiday, June 19th, or Juneteenth, has been celebrated beginning first in Texas and then spreading across the US. While the holiday is recognized in most US states, it is still not federally recognized (sign this petition to change this!).
Across the US today individuals, families, and communities are celebrating this important day of liberation. For me personally, I am beginning Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston was an anthropologist, novelist, and folklorist and I can’t wait to explore more of her work in the future. Other books by Black anthropologists/sociologists/activists on my list include Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy, The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection by Dorceta E. Taylor, The Torture Letters: Reckoning with Police Violence by Laurence Ralph, and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown, so look for quotes from them in the future.
I hope that everybody is finding a meaningful and intentional way to celebrate this holiday. Whether that is through rest and rejuvenation, or education and activism, let’s do it all in the name of continuing the fight against racial injustice across the world!
The Edited Jottings of an Amateur Anthropologist 