Juneteenth is More Than a Holiday: It’s a Lifestyle

I am an African American woman born in Southeast Alabama in the mid-1970s,

but I didn’t learn about Juneteenth until I was an adult. This is surprising to me now, since I was raised by Black parents who taught in segregated and integrated Alabama school systems and since I grew up in the same county where my ancestors lived post-slavery. It’s also surprising since I attended Spelman College, a Historically Black College that boasts alumna such as Walgreen’s CEO Rosalind Brewer and Children’s Defense Fund Founder and president emerita, Marian Wright Edelman.

Being surrounded by Blackness in all its beauty and its forms for the first part 20+ years of my life should have introduced me to African Americans’ “real” Independence Day, shouldn’t it? But why didn’t it?  

I realize now that the joy of being Black may have overshadowed Juneteenth.

Growing up in my community was like celebrating Black History Month 365 days a year. Most of the older Black people I knew attended the Henry Country Training School (HCTS), which was built by Rosa Parks’ father, James McCauley. Mr. McCauley was a carpenter and stonemason born in Abbeville, Alabama, the city where HCTS was built. This school was the source of Black excellence before anyone knew what #BlackGirlMagic or #BlackBoyJoy were.

Long before I was born, Black families in this community rallied around each other to educate children who knew school was the alternative to working in the cotton fields. This shared knowledge and love connected Black people like glue.

To me, Juneteenth is recognition of freedom and belonging in a country that wasn’t founded with Black people in mind.

It’s about people rallying together to create better lives for each other. It’s about moving from being 3/5ths of a person to 100% human. It’s about a desire to live one’s best life regardless of demographics.

As people debate critical race theory and its role in the narrative of the U.S. history, I rely on the stories of my people and the pride my ancestors had in home and land ownership, the acquisition of advanced degrees, and the opportunity to educate those who came after them.

Racial injustice is not a topic of the past.

We have not achieved equity in this nation. More than a one-day celebration, Juneteenth should be a time of reflection and for America to thank Black Americans for their unnamed sacrifices, for their commitment to advancing this nation, and for their desire to work toward a more perfect union.

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Monica F. Cox, Ph.D. is a professor, entrepreneur, and change agent with a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is the CEO of STEMinent LLC. For more information about Dr. Cox and coaching, speaking, and consulting opportunities, check out linktr.ee/drmonicacox, follow her on social media @drmonicacox, or e-mail her at info@drmonicacox.com.

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