OPINION: Reflections on Juneteenth initiatives for the ‘here and now’ activists

1. On Wednesday of last week Dr. Carolyn Dupont, speaking to a “History is Lunch” audience, brought a message on the positions and actions of white evangelicals in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. She pointed out how they opposed the Brown vs. Board of Education decision and the idea of Black people attending their churches. She went on to explain how the brand of Christianity they embraced enabled them to be faithful church members and staunch racists at the same time. Their religion was apparently White Supremacy. She concluded by explaining that racism was so integrated into the culture that both positions were the norm, and while segregation was destroyed, the religious ideology supporting White Supremacy is alive and well. 

Throughout the talk, she referred to White Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches and organizations. While what she reported was historically accurate, the condition could easily have been expanded to include many churches of other denominations.

In the spirit of Juneteenth and the idea of freedom, we offer the challenge to members and leaders of all white churches to fully accept Black leaders, members, and cultural elements with open arms as full, legitimate fellow Christians. That’s freedom in and for the Christian church.

2. Each year and many times in-between, the NAACP, various Greek-lettered organizations, the ACLU, Women for Progress, One Hundred Black Men, university alumni associations, and various other groups that do good, heroic work, carry out their programs. Unfortunately, the groups, especially at the local levels, operate as islands of individuals who are dominated, if not exclusively by one gender, one age group, or people of one economic class, which is bad enough. They also jealously work alone, guarding their group’s agenda. Often hard-working groups could be more effective if they were more inclusive in membership and coordinated or cooperative in their decision-making.

In the spirit of Juneteenth and the idea of freedom, we offer the challenge to the various civil rights, civil liberties, liberation groups, and social organizations engaging in the work of human rights to come fully together both internally and across organizational lines to maximize their effectiveness that they do for others. That’s social and community freedom. 

3. Last week State Senator John Horhn was elected mayor of the city of Jackson. While it is clear he received the majority of the votes in every ward, the efforts of white Republicans to catapult him into the lead in the first primary cannot be denied. The Republican strategy became public but succeeded nevertheless. If history is a true guide, they intend to greatly influence how he governs, which is not in the interest of most working class and non-white people.

 In the spirit of Juneteenth and the idea of freedom, we offer the challenge to citizens, especially those who are not Republicans and do not live in northeast Jackson, to closely monitor the in-coming administration in terms of how Jackson properties are treated, how working class people and low income neighborhoods are treated in terms of resources and economic development, and the amount and types of transparency and accountability that exists. That’s freedom for Jackson and its majority Black population.

4. Earlier this week Donald Trump ordered military troops into Los Angeles. That move was to bring an end to the protests against his removal of Hispanics from the country. Beyond that, however, the move was just the latest which we had predicted he would take as the country’s would-be king or dictator. Those steps included (1) issuing executive orders in the name of law-making, and thereby by-passing Congress; (2) depending on the Supreme Court to allow the orders to stand; and (3) using the military and federal police to control whatever he has ordered, along with the Justice Department investigating and prosecuting anyone who does not go along or with whom he had a disagreement.

In the spirit of Juneteenth and the idea of freedom, we offer the challenge to citizens to rise up and de-fang Trump by any means necessary, realizing individual actions may not affect all the needed changes, but when joined with others can be the key to democratic freedom in America.

After all, Juneteenth is known as Freedom Day. It can and should be expanded to include all aspects and types of freedom. It was created to celebrate the freedom of African people from enslavement in America. Just as the Black Civil Rights Movement, however, has served as a model for other human rights struggles, this Black Freedom Day can be employed to free others around the country. Then we can all truly celebrate.