Episode 10: The History and Media Portrayal of Juneteenth

Juneteenth is a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the US. What's the origin story behind the holiday? How has the media shaped Americans' understanding of Juneteenth? New America's Maika Moulite and Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber from the University of the District of Columbia share their expertise.

Note: The archival audio at the beginning of this episode can be found in Baylor University's oral history archive.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Transcript

Interviewer: When was your father born?

Rowena Keatts: I don't know the exact date that he was born, but it was in the late 1830s or 1840s because he was 18 years old at the close of the Civil War.

Shannon Lynch: You're hearing audio from a 1986 interview of Rowena Keatts talking about her father, Gus Weatherly. Weatherly, who was born into slavery, participated in one of the very first Juneteenth parades in 1865.

Rowena Keatts: He was one of the persons, when they had marched after they found that he was free, he carried the flag in the parade that they had when they found out they were free.

Shannon Lynch: Keatts, who passed away in 2001, reminds us that the United States is only a couple of generations removed from the end of slavery. Yet many Americans lack a comprehensive understanding of this chapter in our history. Juneteenth is a holiday that marks the end of slavery in the U.S. But what are its origins? And what does the day mean to Americans now?

Welcome to Democracy Deciphered, the podcast that analyzes the past, present, and future of American democracy. I'm your host, Shannon Lynch. Today, I'm joined by two experts for a very special episode to discuss the history and media portrayal of Juneteenth.

First up, we have Maika Moulite. Maika is the senior social media manager at New America and a PhD student at Howard University, studying the intersection of artificial intelligence, culture, and media. She frequently examines the role of media in shaping our worldview. And the ways marginalized groups uphold or support these depictions, particularly through social media. She is also the bestselling author of young adult novels co-authored with her sister Maritza Moulite. Her latest book is called The Summer I Ate the Rich, and her work has been featured on NPR, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS Mornings.

Also with us today is Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber. Dr. Jowers-Barber is a historian and professor at the University of the District of Columbia Community College, specializing in African-American history. She co-chairs the 51 Steps to Freedom Project, a first-of-its-kind tour in augmented reality that reveals the untold stories and hidden figures pivotal to America's ongoing journey toward liberty and opportunity. Dr. Jowers-Barber also co-hosts a forthcoming video series titled The Historian's Lens. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in History, Disability, and Gender from Howard University.

Maika, Dr. Jowers-Barber, thank you so much for joining me today.

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: Thank you for having me. I always enjoy talking about historical events.

Maika Moulite: Yes, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Shannon Lynch: So, starting off with Dr. Jowers-Barber, when and where did Juneteenth originate?

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: Juneteenth originated June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas. You know, I normally, if I'm teaching this, as historians, we go umbrella, which is wide, then we go narrow. So we have to talk about the context and what was going on in the country. And then we focus in on a specific historical event, act or actor.

In this case, we know that the Civil War had ended. We know that President Lincoln had already signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and we know that there were now newly freed people who had been formerly enslaved who now have their freedom, except for selected states.

Now, I'm not gonna get into a big history lesson about this, but what I want to debunk are the myths that enslaved people in Texas did not know they were free or did not understand what was happening because they did. The issue was the plantation owners who were determined to push back against Abraham Lincoln, President Lincoln, who did not want to release these enslaved people, who didn't want to lose that free labor, and who were determine to hold on as long as they possibly could. And that hold on, as long they possibly, could ended on June 19th when General Granger came in, read General Order No. 3, and forcibly, with the troops that he brought with them, made these plantation owners release these individuals.

And when you look at General Order Three, look at what it's telling people who have been held against their will that they are to remain quiet in their homes, and that the relationship between their master and where they were the enslaved is now going to just seamlessly transition to employer and employee. So even with this official emancipation, even in the wording of that, there was this kind of idea that you weren't supposed to be upset. You weren't supposed to do anything untoward. You were just supposed to quietly sit and now the person who had lied to you had forcibly held you was going to be this great employer and you were going to paid

Shannon Lynch: That is such valuable context. Thank you, Dr. Jowers-Barber. So, looking back on the past, how has Juneteenth been celebrated or commemorated over the years?

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: Historically, people celebrated in different ways and in different places, because a lot of times you weren't allowed to go into the cities. We have to understand that this period immediately following the end of the Civil War, the Reconstruction period, was not all that friendly to newly freed people, right? So the idea of coming into town and running a hall and being mixed and mingling, that didn't happen.

So, a lot of times these celebrations took place in the woods, by the river. On churches, yards, and there were outdoor activities that took place, and a lot of it was word of mouth. We know the technology back then was the telegraph, but a lot of people newly freed weren't using that, but there was the word of mouth. People were moving about. People had a part of the diaspora moving from one plantation to another newly freed, looking for people. So you had people moving about and talking about this and making maybe sort of ad hoc celebrations, right? Not so much formally structured, but celebrating the fact that they now have the ability to have agency and options limited, but agency and option.

Maika Moulite: And I would also add that the observance of Juneteenth was really localized, like Dr. Jowers-Barber said, where when it was portrayed in the media, it was based off of the local newspapers. A lot of them were Black newspapers that were making sure that they highlighted the events that were happening for the community. And there are some scholars that talk about emancipatory celebrations and how they essentially have three prongs.

One is for folks to be entertained and to come together in community. The second being a remembrance of sorts or helping people to understand the importance of the holiday. You know, there were different celebrations of Juneteenth around the country in these localized ways in which people would read the proclamation that allowed for folks to embrace and finally step into that freedom. And then the last part of these emancipatory celebrations is this aspect of you know, pushing things forward and what does it mean to celebrate it and how it could be used even to move forward conversations about reparations. And so all of these things were together to help with the holidays and resurgence as we know it. And social media has definitely played a role in that but I'm sure we'll get into that in a little bit.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, that's actually a great segue, Maika. So, I know the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee played a big role in the resurgence of and push for national recognition of Juneteenth. Can you explain what people and factors played into Juneteenth being recognized as a federal holiday?

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: When Sheila Jackson Lee started this push, she did so, as you know, she was a representative from Texas. I think it was the 18th District. So, this was important to her and it was important because not only was she representing this area but she understood the significance of having these events recognized and honored. So to have someone in a position to push for this is an honor in itself. The Juneteenth and the emancipation of enslaved people and the recognizing of how far we have come to have someone able in the halls of Congress. And it was a bipartisan bill, I wanna add that it had both parties sign and push for this. But she was that central key figure.

Maika Moulite: Absolutely, yes. And another person that I would highlight is folks call her the grandmother of Juneteenth. Her name is Miss Opal Lee. It must be something about that Lee last name. But back in 2016, when she was 89 years old, she set out from a walk from her hometown in Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC to ask Barack Obama at the time to declare Juneteenth a national holiday. And she really campaigned. Constantly from that time. And she essentially kept pushing for it to the point that she started to grow a bit of a social media following.

And as it would happen, as Dr. Jowers-Barber referenced, the pandemic really played a role in elevating some of these conversations that people were having in a very localized manner to the national stage. And I would say, you know, as a result of the, what folks have called like the summer of racial reckoning, there were conversations around reparations, there were conversations around memory preservation, which is really what celebrations like Juneteenth are. And ultimately, she was able to, you know, through her works, through the works of additional journalists, through the work of Congresswoman Lee, that Dr. Jowers-Barber mentioned, this was something that happened in tandem.

I think oftentimes, there is this need to kind of put, you know, all of the shine, if you will, on one person. But a lot of progress happens in a collective. It happens when enough people band together. So it was, I would say, very synergistic that Ms. Opal Lee, that Congresswoman Lee, that the pandemic happened, that people took to the streets. All of these things came together to help elevate it to the national stage. And then that is what ultimately assisted in it being passed as a bill for us to now celebrate as a federal holiday.

Shannon Lynch: In talking about these resurgence efforts, how has media coverage changed the way Americans perceive Juneteenth over time?

Maika Moulite: You know, we alluded to this earlier where, you know, we talked about the local media playing a very important role in these different states to help folks know about the events that were going on, different ways that they could participate, the moments of history that they were trying to preserve.

Most recently, it has really been following the Black Lives Matter protest of 2020. And there was actually this increase in streaming television platforms that responded to these protests by releasing these playlists that curated films or television series that were focused on Black identity in the United States. And so there was even HBO had a Juneteenth collection where they were highlighting that it was not only about the pain of Black folks, but it's this celebration of joy and freedom.

And what's really interesting is even when we talk about Black liberation, it is, of course, positioned in a way that highlights the pain that Black folks had to overcome. But there are so many aspects of joy that come in spite of all that you have had to deal with. And so the way that the media has portrayed Juneteenth has evolved, whether it's through shows like Black-ish or films like Miss Juneteenth, which highlights the competitions that they would have, which is almost like a pageant, for people to remember the holiday in this way.

So, media has played this really instrumental role in helping us to not only understand our role in the world, but to also contextualize it in conversation with others. And there are other times when, you know, when it becomes this celebration of Juneteenth where people would use it as an opportunity to highlight other, whether it's emancipatory celebrations or just Black history in general. And I just want us to make sure that, even as we are highlighting a very harsh past, that we create these opportunities to show how Black people have been very agentic beings in that act of liberation. And so, you know, the media plays this crucial role in helping us to have a better understanding of Juneteenth, whether it's from local newspapers to streaming platforms, to even social media campaigns that arise encouraging people to learn about the history.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, that makes sense. There have been many different types of emancipation celebrations throughout US history, though, right? Like, Juneteenth isn't the only date of importance in this conversation.

Maika Moulite: Absolutely, yes. When you look at Juneteenth as this celebration, as the liberation of Black folks in the United States, there were actually other emancipatory celebrations that happened in the Unites States, whether it was the first emancipation celebration, which was when the slave trade to America ceased, or some folks celebrated the preliminary proclamation that Lincoln issued on September 22nd, 1862, about the end of slavery. So these things evolved over time.

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: And I think that's so important to understand the myriad of ways that celebrations took place and the different time periods that they started. When you look at really the very first celebration could be the first watch night, December 31st, 1862, when people were waiting for January 1, 1863 for the Emancipation Proclamation that only freed enslaved people in states held by the Confederacy and people were watching, right? So, you had this spiritual religious celebration going on when the clock struck, you know, midnight. So there has been a combination of watching, but all the time participating as well. And I think with the inclusion of social media. Now you have a broader platform with which to view a lot of these events and to look at them a little more closely. Of course, that also allows for a lot things that make no sense.

Maika Moulite: That's a good, that's a great segue because I had a philosophical question for you. Do you think that the commercialization of Juneteenth in recent years preserves or dilutes its historical meaning? Like, you know, how does that help us or hurt us?

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: No, I don't. I embrace the fact that the event itself and the actual, the initial response to it is not diluted, right? That was pure. People we know risked a lot to celebrate, even after the 13th Amendment, when people weren't really welcome in spaces, they risked lot to do that and I do not.

That the fact that a store is going to sell a cup holder or a T-shirt, I don't think that for me makes the occasion any less worthy of celebration. I think what it means is that as a historian, there is a space that you need to take to make sure that you are providing the importance of the event, the significance of the events, and doing an educational part of it.

And then going out and celebrate, people were dancing and carrying on, they may have had a t-shirt on. Somebody, you know, all of this commercialization didn't just happen. Somebody was doing something around that period where they were selling sweet potato pies or doing something. So, I wouldn't get caught up in worrying about that as long as we are making sure that our young people are aware of what the true meaning is. I don't think buying a hoodie is going to take that away. As long as you have both. You have to both.

Maika Moulite: Yeah, the way that I look at it is, you know, there are a lot of people who didn't know about Juneteenth until it became a federal holiday, and there's really something to be said about government buy-in or federal support to help preserve collective memory, especially now as we have this onslaught against the preservation of history, as if not acknowledging it will make it simply go away.

So I agree with you. It being elevated to a federal holiday is a way for us to make sure that it's ingrained and embedded in our collective consciousness, which means that we have to make sure, to your point, that it is not divorced from its emancipatory roots, that it's not divorced from the fact that this was rooted in Black freedom struggles. And, you know, we do live in a consumerist society. So, of course, if there's a way to make a dollar on something, people are going to do that. But I think this is even like, you know, because we are in Pride Month right now where people have conversations around, you know Pride was a riot, right? It started as a riot. It started because people were dissatisfied with how they were being treated by other people as well as their government.

And so, yeah, I think, you the, it being a federal holiday, Juneteenth being a federal holiday doesn't take away from its historical meaning, but as long as we make sure that we are centering the fact that this is our acknowledgement of when everyone was free in the United States, right? As this, you know, especially when we talk about it as an answer to 4th of July, right, where we celebrated as like, oh, we're all free. And it's like, well, we weren't all at that time.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, I think it's so important that you brought up that juxtaposition of July 4th and Juneteenth. So, moving us towards the end here, what work needs to be done going forward to make sure we preserve the meaning and history of Juneteenth?

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: Teaching and events. One of the things that Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the founder of African-American History Month, it was Negro History Week at the time, and then you have to dispel some myths. He was not given February, the shortest month. He selected February because Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two individuals he admired, were born in that month, and that became the month for him. So let's start with making sure that we are not perpetuating the myths about a lot of the history and the holidays and that we're teaching. Now I understand schools are, education is under attack. I understand the times we're in. I am not naive, but I also know that when Carter G. Whitson started this, he didn't go to the public schools initially. He didn't to the government. He went to organizations. He went church groups. He went sororities. He went fraternities. He went to neighborhood groups and individuals. Talk about Black history, to make it important to gather books.

I am just not willing to embrace the concept that we need to depend on the government to keep this alive. We see that's not the case, but we have what we need, to keep it alive and to make it important by the platforms that we have. By our ability to access primary documents to support what we say with real facts. By our ability to take the time to talk to our children, whether they are biological children, whether they're neighborhood children, your aunties, your nephew, whoever, to share this and to do it in such a way that they will find it enjoyable, right? When you have the gatherings, when you have a cookouts, when you're together Thanksgiving and holidays, or are you just- babysitting or, you know, I'm Mimi to my grandchildren. So they know when we are together, we're gonna have some conversations about some things. I'm gonna take them to the Carter G. Woodson statue on 9th Street here in D.C. It's near the church I attend, Shiloh Baptist. So every time they come, they sit on the steps, I'm taking a picture of them with Carter G Woodson, and now they know that, and they read a little inscription on the back, and we talk about, so there are ways that you can make it fun. But I think it's going to be critical that we are determined and focused and very intentional, intentional about our sharing this history and making sure that we pass it on.

Maika Moulite Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. And Clint Smith, who is actually a fellow with New America, in his book, How the Word is Passed, he talks about the preservation of memory. And, you know, one of the examples that he gives is when he talks about the Holocaust and how Germany made it their business as a country to mandate certain things about the preservation of those horrors. And so, of course, you have, I very rarely think of things in a binary way, where it's like, okay, government supported of this holiday and then it's all good, everyone's on the same page, absolutely not, that's not how it works. But having that support is a way that at least the people are essentially coming together to say, this is what we believe. And then the day-to-day remembrances of that, like Dr. Jowers-Barber says, it's reliant on us. For us to make sure that we preserve it. There's a scholar named Mitch Hatcham, who talks about the emancipatory celebrations from like 18 to 1900s. And he identified three goals of these celebrations, which was to celebrate, to educate, and to agitate.

And so whenever we come together and we're remembering Juneteenth for what it was and what it is for us today, there is this opportunity for us to just have a good time. Everybody's always talking about the cookout, lots of cookouts happen on Juneteenth. It's a moment of celebration. And then in those moments, we take time to educate. If we have someone who's reading the proclamation, who's talking about, what does this mean to you today? How has this holiday impacted you? And I think this is what we need to do to make sure that we don't, like Dr. Jowers-Barber said, rely on just the government, but it is contingent on us. And, you know, Dr. Jowers-Barber mentioned the Sankofa principle, which is where you go back to go forward, right? You remember where you were so you can continue. And there really is something to be said about that preservation of ancestral memory and for us to make sure that. You know, which is like full circle to what we were talking about earlier, that we don't just keep it to ourselves, that we share it and we share with our children, we share our friends, we share out with our communities, because I think that is where we find the most power together as a collective.

Shannon Lynch: Thank you so much for joining me for this conversation. It's been so valuable and enlightening. Maika, Dr. Jowers-Barber, really appreciate you joining me today.

Maika Moulite: Thank you.

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber: Thank you. I look forward to any occasion to talk about history, and certainly for such a time as this.

Heidi Lewis: This was a New America production. Shannon Lynch is our host and executive producer. Our co-producers are Joe Wilkes, David Lanham, and Carly Anderson. Social media by Maika Moulite, visuals by Alex Briñas, and media outreach by me, Heidi Lewis. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Democracy Deciphered wherever you like to listen.