Today is a little bit more of a serious topic and it may be a bit sensitive for some of you. Today is Juneteenth. This will be the second year of Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a holiday that was signed into law by president Joe Biden in 2021. This day represents a day of freedom for African-Americans when our ancestors were freed from slavery and it represents freedom for humanity for everyone who helped our ancestors be free regardless of their race.
According to historical records, this was the day that slavery ended in the last state that it was in, which was Texas. It will take some time for Juneteenth to truly become an annual celebration that is understood and celebrated into the culture of this country.
I'm so grateful for our ancestors and their resolve to move history forward. They went through some unimaginable trying times. I cannot imagine being in a time where we have to be afraid of being lynched. Where was humanity at that time? It's so hard to imagine that some people do evil things against others because of their differences, especially their race and ethnicity.
I recently participated in a play in Las Vegas to bring awareness to Juneteenth. It was sponsored by the Juneteenth foundation, Anthem, the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henerson and many other sponsors. In this play, I played the character, Ian Coulter. Ian's character was responsible for bridging the gap of understanding with a white man named Joe, who was an editor of a newspaper. He was trying to convince Joe to run Harry T Moore's story.
In my opinion, Harry T. Moore was like the Martin Luther King before Martin Luther King. He organized protesting, filed lawsuits against segregation in schools and was the head of the NAACP in Florida at the time. He investigated lynchings and sought out justice for the victims. One thing to keep in mind is the time period, this was in the 1940s. This was before the well known civil rights movements of the 1960s. It took a lot of guts for Harry T Moore to be a pioneer for civil rights and his memory should not be forgotten.
I have some food for thought that may ruffle some feathers but it’s a perspective for you to think about. Earlier this month on June the 6th, the country acknowledged D-Day. I have nothing against D-Day or any acknowledgements for the wonderful service that our veterans have done on behalf of our country. My father (Bubba), may he rest in peace, served in the military and fought in a war. Happy father’s day to him and all the fathers as well. Let’s get back to the point at hand here.
Food for thought. On D-Day, the allied forces including the United States and other countries landed in Normandy to fight against the Nazis. At the same time that the United States was fighting against the Nazis and to free Europe from their rule, blacks were still being lynched and were still in a from of slavery through intimidation, segregation and being treated like second class citizens. This is the very definition of irony.
On a good note, there were people from all races who wanted equality for everyone and helped to contribute to the fight for equal rights. I want to acknowledge this out loud that other races, including Caucasian, helped the civil rights movement and the march towards equality. Although things are not at their full potential, we can’t deny the fact that currently today we are better off than we would have been 60 years ago. There are good and bad people in every race.
Although the decks may be stacked against us, we still have the opportunity to build. And I say this because regardless of what race any of us are, we should be grateful for the time that we're living in. In my opinion, there is hope for humanity.
Back to a little bit of History. Harry T Moore and his wife was killed by a bomb on Christmas Day. Their home was bombed. Something that the director of this recent Juneteenth play said. His name is A.P. Richard. He said that if we don’t make people aware of history, it wil repeat itself. Let’s not forget Breonna Taylor, 26 year old African American woman shot in Louisville Kentucky. Georgia Floyd killed in 2020 in Minneapolis Minnesota. Ahmaud Arbery killed in 2020 while jogging in Brunswick Georgia. Their lives is gone and it’s easy for the world to forget if we don’t take a moment to remind ourselves of our history. If we are not educated on our history, we can become the victims of repeated history.