Racism
Editor’s note: Since the publication of this article, Juneteenth was declared a federal national holiday in 2021.
Each year around June 19, Black communities across the country unite for a family reunion of sorts. Juneteenth activities feature the sights and sounds of Blackness: People enjoying art, music and food that connect them to a shared ancestry and history. They celebrate being their authentic selves. They celebrate freedom in both solemn and festive ceremonies.
This celebration marks a day in 1865 when enslaved Texans learned they’d be free—two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered and ended the Civil War and two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Initially a uniquely Texan observance, Juneteenth has now been recognized in some form in every corner of the country.
Alongside CWB Scholars we will travel with Museum historians, experts, and contemporary witnesses to 10 different regions.
Ellen Resnek | Educational Programs and Outreach Manager, CWB We entered into our community of learners a band of educators, scholars, administrators and community change makers and in that space […]
Our honored guest was Charles Person, one of two surviving Freedom Riders to have made the trip in its entirety from Washington DC to New Orleans. The songs of the movement sustained him, he said, especially so when he knew that he should have felt fearful, and no song strengthened him more than “Oh Freedom.”
Laura Thomson Sites of Violence, Sites of Healing Today we visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum, both located in Montgomery, Alabama. We were warned […]
Jennifer Brown and Derek Chimner “We have come a great distance as a society, but we still have a great distance to go.”– Former Congressman John Lewis This was the […]
Deb SmithSocial/Racial Justice CoordinatorYWCA Hanover Montgomery, Alabama ‘History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.’ -Maya Angelou As I continue […]
Lauren Hall | High School Administrator Day two began on Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard, the birthplace of the 1960-1965 Atlanta Student Movement and central location to 6 Historically Black Universities: […]
One of the biggest misconceptions about antisemitism is that it is part of the past akin to ancient history. When talking about my seminar in Poland, some people stated that […]
Learners will learn about the Tree of Life shooting as an event and as a piece of a larger narrative of antisemitism, discrimination and racial issues within the United States. […]