Hiatus Update! – How Did We Not Know That
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Show Notes
On June 19th, 1865, Texas became the last state in the country to emancipate its slaves, nearly two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Why did it take so long for Texas to abolish slavery, and how come we let them get away with it? On its 155th anniversary, Nat explains the history behind the holiday of Juneteenth and the emancipation of slaves in America.
Sources:
- https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
- https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/
Transcript
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okay all right hello everyone and
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welcome back to another episode of how
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did we not know that my name is Jack and
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I’m that and today and that is going to
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be presenting on a topic of her choosing
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yeah today I’m going to be talking about
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the holiday of Juneteenth yeah so sounds
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festive so actually okay so when this
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episode is uploaded it will be June 19th
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um so yeah I’m gonna talk about the
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holiday of Duty’s and I’m actually super
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embarrassed to admit but I had not heard
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of Juneteenth until this year I don’t
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know if Jack Jack have you know I did
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not know what it was till you told me
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you were choosing this as your topic who
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hit me podcast until I texted you yeah
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it was actually my little sister who was
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talking about jinking so shout out to
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her so okay I’m just gonna dive right
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into it so to set the scene it’s June
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19th and 1865 and so Union soldiers led
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by General Gordon Granger arrived in
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Galveston Texas with news that the Civil
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War has officially ended and that
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enslaved people are now free so it’s
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huge news but this announcement is
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actually two and a half years after
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President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation
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Proclamation which had become official
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on January 1st 1963 so by the time
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general Granger shared the news in Texas
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the Confederate capital in Richmond
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Virginia had already fallen President
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Lincoln was already dead because he was
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assassinated on April 15 1865 and the
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13th amendment abolishing slavery was
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already well on its way to being
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ratified so the question is why did it
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take two and a half years for Texas to
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realize that slavery is now illegal
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where this is just Texas Durst Texas
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yeah um and so when the Emancipation
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Proclamation was issued in 1863
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me the Civil War technically had not
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ended yet so side note the civil war
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lasts from 1861 to 1865 and so therefore
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like President Lincoln had very limited
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control over the Confederate states so
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even though he declares okay we’re
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abolishing slavery and enslaved people
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are now free I think they’re still at
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war with the Confederacy so the
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Confederate states are kind of just like
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um okay we’re not gonna we’re not really
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listening to you and basically there
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weren’t enough Union troops to fight
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resistance in the region and so it
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really has no effect on those states
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however when in general robert e lee he
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is the man leading the confederate army
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so he surrenders to the Union Army in
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April 1865 and the Civil War is
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officially over and so because of that
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general Granger is able to bring troops
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to Texas and overcome any resistance but
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there are several theories as to why it
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took so long for the Emancipation
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Proclamation to be enforced in Texas so
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basically there’s a story of a messenger
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sent to deliver the news being shot on
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his way to Texas and so the message
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never makes it to Texas others believe
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that the news was deliberately withheld
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by the enslavers in order to keep their
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own labor force on their plantations
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yeah and others believe that federal
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troops had actually waited for slave
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owners to reap the profits of one last
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cotton harvest before going to Texas and
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enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation
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so it could either be a combination of
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all these reasons or it could be none of
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them at all but regardless of the
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reasons for the delay the fact is that
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slaves in Texas remained enslaved long
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after it was declared illegal and
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historians estimate that around 500,000
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slaves out of a toll
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of 3.9 million slaves living in the US
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had liberated themselves by escaping to
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Union lines between the Emancipation
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Proclamation in 1863 and the end of the
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Civil War and so even though technically
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slavery was illegal during that short
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time period most of the slaves were
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still like we’re they were still
0:04:53.219,0:05:00.960
remained enslaved so yeah I had to risk
0:04:56.879,0:05:03.539
their lives to yeah I don’t see a lot of
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slave owners suddenly being like well we
0:05:03.539,0:05:10.949
lost you guys it was great working with
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you I just don’t see that happening yeah
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I think that would be highly I like it’s
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the law
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now we must follow the law exactly
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exactly yeah and so actually in 1862 so
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while the Civil War was still going on
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so Union troops had captured New Orleans
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and so slave owners in Mississippi and
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Louisiana fled to Texas in order to
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escape Union soldiers yeah yeah we
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escaped Union soldiers or Confederate
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soldiers there is the slave owners are
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oh oh I see okay
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yeah and so yes they want to keep their
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lifestyle and yeah and so sorry yeah so
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they basically bring more than a hundred
0:06:04.650,0:06:12.180
fifty thousand slaves with them to Texas
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therefore at the time of general
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Grainger speech it’s estimated that
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there were approximately 250 thousand
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slaves in Texas that’s a huge amount of
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people who for two and a half years were
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enslaved when they really shouldn’t have
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right it was illegal yeah yeah yeah they
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should have been insane in the first
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place but yeah it was technically
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illegal oh my gosh yeah it’s really
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really upsetting and really fresh
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yeah and so grant general Granger he he
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makes it to Galveston Texas and he
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stands in front of the townspeople and
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he reads general order number three to
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the people of Texas and so I’m just
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going to read a short blurb of what he
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said the people of Texas are informed
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that in accordance with a proclamation
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from the executive of the United States
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all slaves are free this involves an
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absolute equality of rights and rights
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of property between former masters and
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slaves and the connection heretofore
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existing between them becomes that
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between employer and hire laborers the
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freedmen are advised to remain quietly
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at their present homes and work for
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rages wages they are informed that they
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will not be allowed to collect at
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military posts and that they will not be
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supported in idleness either there or
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elsewhere unquote yeah so basically he’s
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like hey you’re free tea but also you’re
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on your own the government isn’t really
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helping you so yeah obviously this is
0:07:53.550,0:08:00.820
monumental news and the reactions of
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enslaved people range from pure shock to
0:08:00.820,0:08:05.860
immediate celebration many slaves would
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remain on the farms and plantations
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where they work as a paid employee while
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a lot of others just left immediately
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because even though they really had
0:08:14.170,0:08:19.210
nowhere to go the many former slaves
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felt that leaving the plantation would
0:08:19.210,0:08:25.120
be their first grasp at freedom yeah
0:08:21.550,0:08:27.190
that’s like you cuz you know a lot of
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slave owners refused to teach them how
0:08:27.190,0:08:31.840
to read and write and now that you’re
0:08:30.040,0:08:34.240
free that’s another thing like how do
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you support yourself now when you aren’t
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like this whole society has been built
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without jobs for you and you haven’t had
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the education to participate in it
0:08:41.890,0:08:47.840
either yeah the whole system was built
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to oppress
0:08:47.840,0:08:54.770
slaves and they had no access to
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education it was illegal for them to
0:08:54.770,0:09:03.470
learn how to read and write and so yeah
0:08:57.890,0:09:05.660
it’s really upsetting and so many slaves
0:09:03.470,0:09:08.300
ended up going north because it
0:09:05.660,0:09:10.640
represented true freedom while others
0:09:08.300,0:09:13.040
went to reunite with family members in
0:09:10.640,0:09:16.640
neighboring states such as Louisiana or
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Arkansas and Oklahoma so kind of we
0:09:16.640,0:09:21.680
already mentioned this but not everyone
0:09:19.370,0:09:23.690
was happy to hear the big news and
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former slave owners and white
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supremacists in the area would react
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with extreme hate and violence and so
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sadly many former slaves were lynched by
0:09:32.360,0:09:37.610
angry whites while others were still
0:09:34.910,0:09:39.890
forcefully held as slaves so a lot of
0:09:37.610,0:09:42.680
people just said either with how the
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information or force them from leaving
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and like after slavery and settling into
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these new areas around the country
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brought in new realities for former
0:09:51.800,0:09:56.450
slaves as well as many challenges of
0:09:54.430,0:09:58.940
establishing what used to be a
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non-existent status for black people in
0:09:58.940,0:10:04.220
America so yeah basically like we
0:10:01.940,0:10:07.400
mentioned you literally have to start
0:10:04.220,0:10:09.530
from Ground Zero you know it’s not even
0:10:07.400,0:10:11.360
Ground Zero it’s like ground negative
0:10:09.530,0:10:14.210
right like ground zero is like you’re
0:10:11.360,0:10:16.190
born like and you have equal
0:10:14.210,0:10:18.890
opportunities right you’re born white in
0:10:16.190,0:10:20.840
a white society and you can have access
0:10:18.890,0:10:22.970
to education and learn how to read it’s
0:10:20.840,0:10:25.430
like negative that it’s like people are
0:10:22.970,0:10:27.230
trying to keep you from your
0:10:25.430,0:10:32.380
opportunities they’re going on in
0:10:27.230,0:10:35.540
linking you exactly exactly and so
0:10:32.380,0:10:38.420
overcoming the confusion and delay of
0:10:35.540,0:10:40.670
the Emancipation Proclamation as well as
0:10:38.420,0:10:43.370
terror and violence that haunted their
0:10:40.670,0:10:45.530
everyday lives newly freed black men and
0:10:43.370,0:10:48.110
women in Texas chose to celebrate the
0:10:45.530,0:10:51.680
news of their freedom every year on the
0:10:48.110,0:10:54.770
day June 19th and so Juneteenth
0:10:51.680,0:10:57.700
which is short for it’s a mix of June 19
0:10:54.770,0:10:57.700
June 2
0:10:58.120,0:11:03.300
that amazing day in history and
0:11:01.200,0:11:05.640
also serve as motivation as well as
0:11:03.300,0:11:08.400
release from the growing pressures that
0:11:05.640,0:11:13.650
quickly accumulated in their new lives
0:11:08.400,0:11:16.530
and these celebrations and festivals of
0:11:13.650,0:11:19.710
Juneteenth was a time for reassuring
0:11:16.530,0:11:22.560
each other and for gathering remaining
0:11:19.710,0:11:24.990
family members that had kind of
0:11:22.560,0:11:27.690
relocated across the country and also
0:11:24.990,0:11:29.670
for praying together and in the decades
0:11:27.690,0:11:31.380
to follow many former slaves and
0:11:29.670,0:11:34.770
descendants of slaves would make the
0:11:31.380,0:11:39.660
annual pilgrimage to Galveston Texas on
0:11:34.770,0:11:44.090
June 19th and yeah so you might be
0:11:39.660,0:11:48.560
wondering how is Juneteenth celebrated
0:11:44.090,0:11:48.560
that’s exactly I was just about to ask
0:11:52.160,0:11:58.740
the focus of duty is family and being
0:11:56.220,0:12:01.260
together as a community and prayer
0:11:58.740,0:12:03.360
services were a major part of the
0:12:01.260,0:12:05.670
celebrations and oftentimes of
0:12:03.360,0:12:08.610
festivities would be held at churches
0:12:05.670,0:12:12.120
there were readings of the Emancipation
0:12:08.610,0:12:14.580
Proclamation and I think it’s really
0:12:12.120,0:12:18.350
important to note that it also focused
0:12:14.580,0:12:21.450
on education and self-improvement and so
0:12:18.350,0:12:24.360
guest speakers were often brought in and
0:12:21.450,0:12:27.270
the elders of the community were asked
0:12:24.360,0:12:29.760
to recount the events of the past so
0:12:27.270,0:12:33.240
it’s a big focus on educating yourself
0:12:29.760,0:12:36.570
through storytelling and through
0:12:33.240,0:12:40.500
people’s lived experiences firsthand
0:12:36.570,0:12:44.760
yeah and it was also just a way to have
0:12:40.500,0:12:48.960
fun together ha ha so we see of people
0:12:44.760,0:12:53.760
celebrating with rodeos fishing baseball
0:12:48.960,0:12:56.160
and one of I guess the key elements of
0:12:53.760,0:12:59.490
Juneteenth celebrations are huge
0:12:56.160,0:13:01.650
barbeque pits where it’s just giant yeah
0:12:59.490,0:13:04.770
fires and everyone’s like eating really
0:13:01.650,0:13:06.930
good meat eat together ok so as
0:13:04.770,0:13:09.780
technology progresses there would also
0:13:06.930,0:13:14.930
be stock car races and also overhead
0:13:09.780,0:13:18.140
flights and air shows so a super-fun
0:13:14.930,0:13:20.360
and specific foods became popular during
0:13:18.140,0:13:22.910
these celebrations and some are actually
0:13:20.360,0:13:25.690
almost synonymous with Juneteenth and
0:13:22.910,0:13:28.580
these include strawberry soda and
0:13:25.690,0:13:30.620
barbecued meat and so everyone would
0:13:28.580,0:13:33.320
come to the celebrations and they would
0:13:30.620,0:13:36.080
bring a special dish to share and there
0:13:33.320,0:13:39.170
would be beef lamb and pork which were
0:13:36.080,0:13:41.680
not usually available every day but they
0:13:39.170,0:13:44.750
were eaten on this special occasion and
0:13:41.680,0:13:46.940
dress was also a very important factor
0:13:44.750,0:13:50.450
and it’s still taken really seriously
0:13:46.940,0:13:53.390
today because during slavery there were
0:13:50.450,0:13:57.440
laws in many areas that prohibited or
0:13:53.390,0:13:59.540
limited the dressing of slaves and there
0:13:57.440,0:14:02.180
are accounts that during the first few
0:13:59.540,0:14:04.910
days of the Emancipation celebrations
0:14:02.180,0:14:08.029
former slaves through their ragged and
0:14:04.910,0:14:10.610
old clothing into creeks and rivers and
0:14:08.029,0:14:12.649
instead were clothing taken from the
0:14:10.610,0:14:16.399
plantations belonging to their former
0:14:12.649,0:14:19.220
masters and because of that yeah people
0:14:16.399,0:14:22.010
dress up really nicely and like I don’t
0:14:19.220,0:14:23.480
know I never would have considered I
0:14:22.010,0:14:25.610
don’t know you really take something as
0:14:23.480,0:14:27.560
simple as being able to choose your own
0:14:25.610,0:14:34.220
clothing and we’re nice clothing for
0:14:27.560,0:14:36.830
granted so really yeah yeah yeah and in
0:14:34.220,0:14:38.750
early years there was very little
0:14:36.830,0:14:40.820
interest in the celebrations of
0:14:38.750,0:14:44.000
Juneteenth outside of the African
0:14:40.820,0:14:47.180
American community especially in Jim
0:14:44.000,0:14:50.150
Crow Texas White’s rallied around their
0:14:47.180,0:14:54.470
own version of history in an effort to I
0:14:50.150,0:14:57.410
guess glorify and whitewash past
0:14:54.470,0:15:01.160
cruelties and defeats and acts of
0:14:57.410,0:15:04.400
violence and there are accounts on june
0:15:01.160,0:15:07.700
teeth there sorry there are accounts of
0:15:04.400,0:15:10.250
duty celebrations being interrupted and
0:15:07.700,0:15:12.829
stopped by white landowners that were
0:15:10.250,0:15:15.380
demanding that their laborers return to
0:15:12.829,0:15:17.839
work and many whites would demonstrate
0:15:15.380,0:15:20.570
their resistance by banning the use of
0:15:17.839,0:15:24.110
public property for jinking festivities
0:15:20.570,0:15:27.500
and so because of this celebrations were
0:15:24.110,0:15:28.780
often held in rural areas next to rivers
0:15:27.500,0:15:30.640
and creeks
0:15:28.780,0:15:36.100
because it technically wasn’t public
0:15:30.640,0:15:39.220
land mm-hmm however as african-americans
0:15:36.100,0:15:42.220
eventually became land owners land would
0:15:39.220,0:15:44.020
be donated to these festivities so one
0:15:42.220,0:15:46.300
of the earliest documented land
0:15:44.020,0:15:49.000
purchases for Juneteenth was organized
0:15:46.300,0:15:52.660
by Reverend Jack Yates and his
0:15:49.000,0:15:55.840
fundraising effort raised $1,000 which
0:15:52.660,0:15:58.590
in today’s money is twenty thousand
0:15:55.840,0:16:02.499
dollars and it led to the purchase of
0:15:58.590,0:16:09.869
Emancipation Park in Houston Texas
0:16:02.499,0:16:12.579
awesome also in Mexia Texas Mexia yeah
0:16:09.869,0:16:14.919
it makes you a Texas the local
0:16:12.579,0:16:17.139
Juneteenth organization purchased Booker
0:16:14.919,0:16:19.599
T Washington Park which became the
0:16:17.139,0:16:23.199
official Juneteenth celebration site in
0:16:19.599,0:16:25.659
the Year 1898 and for decades the
0:16:23.199,0:16:28.749
celebrations grew and they spread
0:16:25.659,0:16:33.729
further across the country with every
0:16:28.749,0:16:37.629
year however in the early 1900’s we see
0:16:33.729,0:16:40.749
a decline in the Juneteenth celebrations
0:16:37.629,0:16:44.109
because of economic and cultural forces
0:16:40.749,0:16:47.709
so the Great Depression which we got to
0:16:44.109,0:16:52.389
hear about in a former episode check it
0:16:47.709,0:16:54.489
out the Great Depression forced many
0:16:52.389,0:16:57.339
people to move from the farms in rural
0:16:54.489,0:17:00.909
areas into the cities in order to find
0:16:57.339,0:17:02.859
work and in the cities employers were a
0:17:00.909,0:17:05.289
lot less likely to give workers the day
0:17:02.859,0:17:08.889
off in order to celebrate Eugene and so
0:17:05.289,0:17:11.740
unless June 19th fell on a weekend or on
0:17:08.889,0:17:14.679
a federal observe holiday there were
0:17:11.740,0:17:15.669
very few participants available to
0:17:14.679,0:17:20.439
celebrate together
0:17:15.669,0:17:23.289
and additionally July 4th was already an
0:17:20.439,0:17:25.990
established u.s. holiday that celebrated
0:17:23.289,0:17:28.539
independence and arise and patriotism
0:17:25.990,0:17:32.169
would lead to a bigger focus on this
0:17:28.539,0:17:34.539
holiday instead of Juneteenth I guess
0:17:32.169,0:17:35.980
some people thought okay if you want to
0:17:34.539,0:17:37.869
celebrate your freedom you should
0:17:35.980,0:17:42.000
celebrate it on July 4th our
0:17:37.869,0:17:44.889
Independence Day and I think a very very
0:17:42.000,0:17:47.289
important thing to know is there was
0:17:44.889,0:17:49.389
also a shift in education from
0:17:47.289,0:17:51.850
traditional home and Family Talk
0:17:49.389,0:17:55.210
practices to more structured classroom
0:17:51.850,0:17:59.230
and textbook education and because of
0:17:55.210,0:18:01.720
less emphasis and less detail on the
0:17:59.230,0:18:04.480
history of former slaves kids became
0:18:01.720,0:18:07.269
less interested and ultimately less
0:18:04.480,0:18:11.289
educated on the reasons for celebrating
0:18:07.269,0:18:14.049
Juneteenth and like to be a slave in the
0:18:11.289,0:18:16.860
u.s. Oh kids in the like black community
0:18:14.049,0:18:19.960
yeah
0:18:16.860,0:18:22.270
who are in the classroom and so for
0:18:19.960,0:18:23.950
example classroom textbooks proclaim
0:18:22.270,0:18:28.840
that President Lincoln’s Emancipation
0:18:23.950,0:18:30.910
Proclamation issued in 1863 was the date
0:18:28.840,0:18:33.130
signaling the end of slavery but they
0:18:30.910,0:18:35.500
don’t even mention you know the delay
0:18:33.130,0:18:37.750
the huge two and a half year delay in
0:18:35.500,0:18:40.600
Texas and they don’t talk about general
0:18:37.750,0:18:43.300
Rangel speech On June 19th and I had
0:18:40.600,0:18:45.820
also I mean to this day I think the same
0:18:43.300,0:18:48.040
issue exists I had no idea that there
0:18:45.820,0:18:49.930
was such a huge light you just think
0:18:48.040,0:18:54.370
Emancipation Proclamation and
0:18:49.930,0:18:57.070
everything’s good now but yeah I felt it
0:18:54.370,0:19:00.160
in my heart that they definitely did not
0:18:57.070,0:19:03.070
there’s gonna be a delay with the ending
0:19:00.160,0:19:05.650
of slavery but yeah at least we have
0:19:03.070,0:19:07.810
some documentation in history that
0:19:05.650,0:19:10.000
actually shows you okay this is actually
0:19:07.810,0:19:13.450
what was going on for the two years and
0:19:10.000,0:19:17.260
where everyone was migrating to exactly
0:19:13.450,0:19:20.290
yeah and I guess to go off of that I
0:19:17.260,0:19:24.010
will so one of my sources is this PBS
0:19:20.290,0:19:26.290
article and there was a really amazing
0:19:24.010,0:19:28.180
quote that kind of sums it up very well
0:19:26.290,0:19:31.420
so I’m just gonna read the direct quote
0:19:28.180,0:19:34.120
so despite local committees best efforts
0:19:31.420,0:19:36.160
with each new site with each new
0:19:34.120,0:19:38.680
segregation law with each new textbook
0:19:36.160,0:19:40.510
whitewashing and brutal lynching in the
0:19:38.680,0:19:42.280
South African Americans felt
0:19:40.510,0:19:44.500
increasingly disconnected from their
0:19:42.280,0:19:46.660
history so that by the time World War
0:19:44.500,0:19:48.970
two shook the nation they could no
0:19:46.660,0:19:50.320
longer faithfully celebrate freedom in a
0:19:48.970,0:19:52.930
land that still rendered them
0:19:50.320,0:19:54.880
second-class citizens worth of dying for
0:19:52.930,0:19:57.040
their country but not worthy of being
0:19:54.880,0:20:03.550
honored or treated equally for it
0:19:57.040,0:20:07.140
unquote yeah very powerful quote yeah
0:20:03.550,0:20:07.140
that’s a really amazing quote
0:20:07.540,0:20:12.220
but then flash-forward to the civil
0:20:10.120,0:20:15.700
rights movement in the 1950s and the
0:20:12.220,0:20:18.400
1960s so we see a resurgence in
0:20:15.700,0:20:22.090
discussing Juneteenth and more people
0:20:18.400,0:20:23.890
begin to celebrate it again so basically
0:20:22.090,0:20:25.930
the civil rights movement had both
0:20:23.890,0:20:29.370
positive and negative impacts on
0:20:25.930,0:20:32.110
Juneteenth celebrations because while
0:20:29.370,0:20:34.390
african-american youth were a little bit
0:20:32.110,0:20:37.270
too busy to celebrate because they were
0:20:34.390,0:20:38.650
protesting and demonstrating they would
0:20:37.270,0:20:41.530
still show their pride for the
0:20:38.650,0:20:44.170
celebrations in other ways and so in the
0:20:41.530,0:20:46.330
early 1960s a lot of student
0:20:44.170,0:20:49.090
demonstrators for the Atlanta Civil
0:20:46.330,0:20:53.380
Rights Campaign wore Juneteenth Freedom
0:20:49.090,0:20:56.680
buttons and most significantly in 1968
0:20:53.380,0:20:58.870
there was another strong resurgence in
0:20:56.680,0:21:02.460
remembering June 19th because of the
0:20:58.870,0:21:07.240
poor people’s March to Washington DC and
0:21:02.460,0:21:10.180
I don’t I don’t remember learning about
0:21:07.240,0:21:13.570
this specific March so I’m gonna give a
0:21:10.180,0:21:16.600
brief summary but basically Reverend
0:21:13.570,0:21:19.510
Ralph Abernathy called for people of all
0:21:16.600,0:21:22.330
races beliefs economic levels and
0:21:19.510,0:21:24.820
professions to come to Washington DC in
0:21:22.330,0:21:27.460
order to show support for the poor in
0:21:24.820,0:21:30.400
America and because of this March I
0:21:27.460,0:21:32.500
guess people started sharing stories and
0:21:30.400,0:21:37.750
they started talking more about
0:21:32.500,0:21:40.000
Juneteenth again and as a result many of
0:21:37.750,0:21:42.790
the attendees would return home and
0:21:40.000,0:21:45.790
start ginseng celebrations in their home
0:21:42.790,0:21:48.550
areas that maybe didn’t have any
0:21:45.790,0:21:50.680
celebrations before that and two of the
0:21:48.550,0:21:53.260
largest Juneteenth celebrations were
0:21:50.680,0:21:56.440
founded after this March and they’re now
0:21:53.260,0:22:03.420
held today in Milwaukee and Minneapolis
0:21:56.440,0:22:07.060
and yeah and so finally on January 1st
0:22:03.420,0:22:10.090
1980 Juneteenth became an official state
0:22:07.060,0:22:13.150
holiday in Texas through the efforts of
0:22:10.090,0:22:16.330
Al Edwards an african-american state
0:22:13.150,0:22:18.490
legislator and this marked the first
0:22:16.330,0:22:21.090
emancipation celebration that was
0:22:18.490,0:22:23.580
granted official state recognition
0:22:21.090,0:22:26.070
and after the passing of this bill
0:22:23.580,0:22:28.890
Edwards sought to spread the observance
0:22:26.070,0:22:32.880
all across America not just amongst the
0:22:28.890,0:22:35.540
state of Texas and since then 41 other
0:22:32.880,0:22:39.270
states including the District of
0:22:35.540,0:22:42.530
Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as a
0:22:39.270,0:22:49.050
state holiday or holiday observance oh
0:22:42.530,0:22:53.300
yay yeah still got some work to go yeah
0:22:49.050,0:22:57.750
and so the large majority of states
0:22:53.300,0:23:00.510
observe the holiday um I do want to just
0:22:57.750,0:23:03.000
include another side note after the
0:23:00.510,0:23:05.730
passing of Edwards bill in Texas the
0:23:03.000,0:23:08.220
state of Texas would also reaffirm its
0:23:05.730,0:23:12.660
commitment to observing January 19th as
0:23:08.220,0:23:16.110
Confederate heroes date so we see both
0:23:12.660,0:23:19.560
sides to okay progress that needs to be
0:23:16.110,0:23:22.970
made but yeah talk about Juneteenth
0:23:19.560,0:23:25.230
today so there are number of
0:23:22.970,0:23:28.140
celebrations are growing within
0:23:25.230,0:23:31.140
communities and organizations throughout
0:23:28.140,0:23:33.030
the country and in recent years several
0:23:31.140,0:23:35.070
local and national Juneteenth
0:23:33.030,0:23:37.440
organizations have been created in order
0:23:35.070,0:23:39.960
to promote and cultivate knowledge and
0:23:37.440,0:23:43.230
appreciation of african-american history
0:23:39.960,0:23:45.150
and culture and the national Juneteenth
0:23:43.230,0:23:48.240
observance foundation founded by
0:23:45.150,0:23:49.740
reverend ronald myers is committed to
0:23:48.240,0:23:52.950
making Juneteenth a federal holiday
0:23:49.740,0:23:56.190
because at the moment it’s just a few
0:23:52.950,0:23:59.190
states that are doing it yeah but it’s
0:23:56.190,0:24:02.250
not a federal holiday yet mm-hmm to
0:23:59.190,0:24:04.590
clarify just cuz I want to make sure
0:24:02.250,0:24:10.500
like I have this right so Juneteenth
0:24:04.590,0:24:12.720
June 19th like how did that like
0:24:10.500,0:24:17.130
actually make a difference that specific
0:24:12.720,0:24:19.110
day on like the slave status like was it
0:24:17.130,0:24:20.700
completely outlawed from Texas because I
0:24:19.110,0:24:22.170
would assume that the slave owners would
0:24:20.700,0:24:24.480
still keep doing the same things that
0:24:22.170,0:24:28.260
they were doing regardless so what made
0:24:24.480,0:24:31.620
you 19th like significant special yeah
0:24:28.260,0:24:34.500
so basically general Granger came in
0:24:31.620,0:24:35.200
with the Union soldiers and so he came
0:24:34.500,0:24:38.500
with
0:24:35.200,0:24:41.460
like a big army and so they were there
0:24:38.500,0:24:44.950
too specifically to fight any resistance
0:24:41.460,0:24:47.049
that would be yeah any resistance
0:24:44.950,0:24:50.950
against the American Emancipation
0:24:47.049,0:24:53.710
Proclamation and I guess the reason why
0:24:50.950,0:24:56.139
Juneteenth was kind of chosen as the day
0:24:53.710,0:25:00.659
to celebrate emancipation in America is
0:24:56.139,0:25:03.639
because it was you know one of the last
0:25:00.659,0:25:08.490
yeah it was because Texas was the last
0:25:03.639,0:25:12.730
state to be officially emancipated and
0:25:08.490,0:25:14.320
so I guess uh previously people had
0:25:12.730,0:25:16.299
debated which data are we going to
0:25:14.320,0:25:19.240
choose are we going to choose January
0:25:16.299,0:25:22.029
1st which is the date that the
0:25:19.240,0:25:23.769
Emancipation Proclamation was issued
0:25:22.029,0:25:26.440
however it’s like New Year’s Day and
0:25:23.769,0:25:30.010
many other laws are passed on January
0:25:26.440,0:25:32.440
1st and people were also like well okay
0:25:30.010,0:25:34.960
it was issued on January 1st but there
0:25:32.440,0:25:37.360
were still slaves in the US for two and
0:25:34.960,0:25:41.590
a half years so let’s choose the last
0:25:37.360,0:25:45.100
date the last emancipation date and so I
0:25:41.590,0:25:49.600
do 19th was chosen to celebrate the
0:25:45.100,0:25:52.480
abolishment of slavery okay yeah so then
0:25:49.600,0:25:54.700
yeah cuz it just Texas as big right so
0:25:52.480,0:25:57.179
even with the Union soldiers coming in
0:25:54.700,0:26:00.730
I’m sure that wasn’t an overnight thing
0:25:57.179,0:26:02.380
start and it’s not like okay yeah like
0:26:00.730,0:26:05.860
we were saying it’s not like okay
0:26:02.380,0:26:08.409
everything is all peachy now you go
0:26:05.860,0:26:13.620
about your own life like the
0:26:08.409,0:26:16.899
Reconstruction period I guess it was
0:26:13.620,0:26:18.639
extremely challenging for African
0:26:16.899,0:26:21.480
Americans in the u.s. I can’t even
0:26:18.639,0:26:26.679
imagine how difficult it would be and so
0:26:21.480,0:26:28.539
it takes decades for people to be able
0:26:26.679,0:26:31.539
to establish a life and it affects not
0:26:28.539,0:26:33.039
only former slaves and direct
0:26:31.539,0:26:35.710
descendants of sleep but you know
0:26:33.039,0:26:39.519
generations and generations to come in
0:26:35.710,0:26:42.309
the future and yeah yeah it’s it’s not
0:26:39.519,0:26:45.120
like so while we do celebrate June 19th
0:26:42.309,0:26:47.470
as the day to celebrate emancipation I
0:26:45.120,0:26:50.010
think yeah it’s important to remember
0:26:47.470,0:26:55.169
that there’s
0:26:50.010,0:27:00.429
lasting effects to the stave and yeah
0:26:55.169,0:27:02.799
and institutions such as the Smithsonian
0:27:00.429,0:27:04.570
and the Henry Ford Museum have begun
0:27:02.799,0:27:08.080
sponsoring Juneteenth centered
0:27:04.570,0:27:10.000
activities and actually in the past few
0:27:08.080,0:27:12.159
days I guess when I was doing my
0:27:10.000,0:27:14.070
research I saw a lot of news articles
0:27:12.159,0:27:17.649
being written about Juneteenth because
0:27:14.070,0:27:19.750
yeah it’s coming up companies such as
0:27:17.649,0:27:21.399
Nike and Twitter have announced that
0:27:19.750,0:27:24.809
they’re making Juneteenth of paid
0:27:21.399,0:27:28.539
corporate holiday yay that’s awesome
0:27:24.809,0:27:32.620
yeah right because even in even in state
0:27:28.539,0:27:35.380
holidays it’s not a paid leave holiday
0:27:32.620,0:27:36.639
you know it’s observed but yeah I
0:27:35.380,0:27:38.880
thought that was really amazing that
0:27:36.639,0:27:40.990
those companies did that mm-hmm and
0:27:38.880,0:27:43.630
today Juneteenth
0:27:40.990,0:27:45.880
celebrates african-american freedom and
0:27:43.630,0:27:47.919
achievement while encouraging continuous
0:27:45.880,0:27:50.799
self-development and respect for all
0:27:47.919,0:27:54.399
cultures and I guess to kind of wrap up
0:27:50.799,0:27:56.889
my brief summary of duties I wanted to
0:27:54.399,0:28:00.039
again read another quote this time from
0:27:56.889,0:28:04.000
Juneteenth comm which was founded in
0:28:00.039,0:28:09.639
1997 by Clifford Robertson and it has a
0:28:04.000,0:28:12.429
really great I guess library of the
0:28:09.639,0:28:14.649
history of Juneteenth and what life was
0:28:12.429,0:28:16.500
like as a save in the u.s. so you should
0:28:14.649,0:28:20.320
all check it out but okay so the coat so
0:28:16.500,0:28:22.539
as it takes on a more national symbolic
0:28:20.320,0:28:25.960
and even global perspective the events
0:28:22.539,0:28:27.639
of 1865 in Texas are not forgotten for
0:28:25.960,0:28:29.710
all of the roots tie back to this
0:28:27.639,0:28:33.039
fertile soil from which a national day
0:28:29.710,0:28:35.440
of pride is growing I thought that was
0:28:33.039,0:28:39.610
really sweet and really an amazing quote
0:28:35.440,0:28:42.279
and yeah that basically sums up what the
0:28:39.610,0:28:46.779
holiday of Juneteenth is why we
0:28:42.279,0:28:46.990
celebrate it and I yeah yeah no I love
0:28:46.779,0:28:49.419
it
0:28:46.990,0:28:53.440
thank you I this is literally the first
0:28:49.419,0:28:55.360
time of me hearing about this I yeah
0:28:53.440,0:28:57.700
it’s never brought up in my school so I
0:28:55.360,0:28:59.860
appreciate you and shout out your little
0:28:57.700,0:29:03.130
sister we’re bringing it up so that we
0:28:59.860,0:29:05.050
could cover it yeah I was so
0:29:03.130,0:29:10.210
surprised I had never even heard of this
0:29:05.050,0:29:12.340
holiday and yeah I think we should yeah
0:29:10.210,0:29:15.730
educate ourselves about it and spread
0:29:12.340,0:29:18.400
more awareness of the holiday and yeah
0:29:15.730,0:29:21.220
yeah something to be celebrated but we
0:29:18.400,0:29:23.790
still have work to be done so that’s an
0:29:21.220,0:29:27.130
important note yeah
0:29:23.790,0:29:30.400
but thank you this was a heavy topic but
0:29:27.130,0:29:36.370
I’m glad we discussed it yeah well
0:29:30.400,0:29:38.350
thanks for hi oh thanks for letting me
0:29:36.370,0:29:41.560
talk about it and I had a lot of fun
0:29:38.350,0:29:44.950
researching it and yeah thanks everyone
0:29:41.560,0:29:46.210
for listening to us talk about ginseng
0:29:44.950,0:29:50.410
thanks for listening to another episode
0:29:46.210,0:29:52.420
and I guess don’t forget to leave us a
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review don’t forget to hit that
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subscribe button send us an email if
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you’d like and how did we not know that
0:29:58.390,0:30:04.150
at gmail.com we’re just waiting for you
0:30:01.420,0:30:06.340
guys yeah and check out our Great
0:30:04.150,0:30:07.540
Depression episode as well while you’re
0:30:06.340,0:30:10.360
at it we’ll put the link in the
0:30:07.540,0:30:12.220
description shout out to that cheer this
0:30:10.360,0:30:15.190
episode with your friends who might not
0:30:12.220,0:30:16.770
know about juicing and yeah thanks for
0:30:15.190,0:30:40.910
listening yeah
0:30:16.770,0:30:40.910
[Music]
How Did We Not Know That 