Juneteenth has fallen victim to racial capitalism. Black Americans are no longer the focus.
If not our humanity, access to education nor reluctant police reform—Black Americans at the least are owed a Freedom Day that is indicative of our past, not a fabricated “celebration” that centers corporations and profit. Louisville has lost the heart of Juneteenth not even five years after it became a federal holiday.
It is disheartening that the Louisville Juneteenth Festival is not rooted in true community, but instead the two notorious P's: Profit and Pictures. The festival should be free with no tickets, no vendor fees and no corporations. But instead, Lynn Family Stadium will be hosting. If any, it should be a Black-owned business or one that is regularly in network with Black Louisville.
At the next cookout ask your family when is the last time they visited Lynn Family Stadium or even played soccer. Which isn’t to say Black people don’t visit the stadium or play soccer; it is to say such partnerships should follow cultural engagement and traditions. This is a forced attempt at trying to blend two different communities when Juneteenth should be a day of Pan-Africanism. It is selling out in the name of PR.
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Similarly, as inconvenient as slavery was, are we not owed a Freedom Day that inconveniences the work week? June 19 falls on a Wednesday this year yet the festival is on June 15 because it is the nearest Saturday. Again, our freedom is contingent on some outside factor. A Juneteenth festival true to Black liberation would be held on the day; no matter what logistical efforts lie ahead. Because that's how non-negotiable and unwavering our Freedom is.
Juneteenth has lost its original meaning
Juneteenth as a federal and now state holiday is humorous to say the least. White people having a paid day off on Juneteenth is not only the antithesis of the entire day, it represents a sinister cycle of America reluctantly giving Black Americans what we are owed, and only if white America can benefit from it.
We still struggle with housing, education, transportation and health because of the generational ignorance to racism. To pay white people on Juneteenth is a slap in the face to every Black American and the ancestors we come from. If these systems were so invested in helping Black communities they would commit to that notion materially. They would put their money where their mouths are.
But we as Black Americans know better than to expect that.
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So each year it’ll get worse. More red and green will seep into marketing flyers. More “partnerships” will develop. More logos stamped on the backs of our shirts. More media fluff while allowing Louisville Metro Police Department and Jefferson County Public Schools to neglect us. More and more conditions on our freedom.
Juneteenth is not an excuse for white corporations to “partner” with Black organizations in the name of “diversity.” But like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Gay Pride, Juneteenth has been swept up by racial capitalism and spit back out to us at double the price and a fraction of the impact.
Nia Queen is a community organizer, creative, and writer dedicated to justice and truth. She is also a recent graduate of Western Kentucky University.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville has lost the original meaning of Juneteenth
