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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Juneteenth Is Coming

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Juneteenth Is Coming

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Reuters, “Biden calls racism ‘still too powerful’ during Juneteenth concert at White House”:

… Speaking at the White House‘s first big Juneteenth celebration, a concert that featured performances by singers Jennifer Hudson, Audra McDonald and Ledisi, Biden urged Americans to choose love over hate and to remember history, not erase it.

“As the past few years remind us, our freedoms have been put at risk by racism that’s still too powerful a force,” he said.

“Hate only hides… And when given oxygen, just a little oxygen, it comes roaring back out again, and we have to … stand up and deny it the oxygen. So Juneteenth as a federal holiday is meant to breathe a new life into the very essence of America.”

Biden declared Juneteenth – a portmanteau of June and 19th, also known as Emancipation Day – a federal holiday in 2021. It commemorates the day in 1865, after the Confederate states had surrendered to end the Civil War, when a Union general arrived in Texas to inform a group of enslaved African Americans of their freedom under President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation…

Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman vice president, opened the evening at the White House with a description of the origins of the day and an introduction of 96-year-old Opal Lee, whose advocacy helped turn Juneteenth into a holiday.

“Make yourself a committee of one to change somebody’s mind,” Lee told the audience. “If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.”

The White House described the event as a celebration of community, culture and music. It included music from marching bands from Morgan State University in Baltimore and Tennessee State University, in Nashville. Other performers were dance group Step Afrika! and choirs from more historically black colleges and universities.

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Morning, AL.

    It occurred to me that the nice thing about Cole’s postings yesterday was that he wasn’t egregiously wrong about anything.

  2. 2.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    The all look so happy and decent. Ashley’s floral print with gold pinstripes is to die for. (photo)

  7. 7.

    lowtechcyclist

    [Juneteenth] commemorates the day in 1865, after the Confederate states had surrendered to end the Civil War, when a Union general arrived in Texas to inform a group of enslaved African Americans of their freedom under President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation…

    Important detail: the enslaved persons already knew.  The Union general’s arrival informed their (now former) masters that the Army was now present to enforce that freedom, and that they could no longer treat people like property.

    In any event, it’s a date worthy of recognition.

  9. 9.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Good morning 🌄!

    Happy to report that Duke seems to have made a full recovery from the mystery infection that caused such a high fever. He’s also mingling, sometimes reluctantly, with the rest of the cats which is a huge improvement for us all.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Blech:

    Global temperatures have accelerated to record-setting levels this month, an ominous sign in the climate crisis ahead of a gathering El Niño that could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded.

    Preliminary global average temperatures taken so far in June are nearly 1C (1.8F) above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979. While the month is not yet complete and may not set a new June record, climate scientists say it follows a pattern of strengthening global heating that could see this year named the hottest ever recorded, topping 2016.

    The long-term warming conditions caused by the burning of fossil fuels will likely receive a further pulse of heat via El Niño, a naturally recurring phenomenon where sections of the Pacific Ocean heat up, typically causing temperatures to spike across the world.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Important detail: the enslaved persons already knew. The Union general’s arrival informed their (now former) masters that the Army was now present to enforce that freedom, and that they could no longer treat people like property.

    I’m currently taking a four-week zoom course on the history and lasting impact of Juneteenth, and in last week’s intro class the instructor emphasised that point again and again. Class #2 meets this afternoon. Will be interesting to see if the Tuesday’s WH celebrations are covered.

  14. 14.

    rekoob

    Getting this on an early thread for those who may have missed it:

    Juicer Meetup in Philadelphia — 15 June (today) at 6:30p

    The Abbaye

    637 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia PA 19123

    Look for the balloons! WaterGirl knows how to reach me.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @TS:

    Saddened to hear that. Like millions of others, I first knew her through her extraordinary performance as Queen Elizabeth I in the BBC miniseries. A wonderful actor and human being. RIP.

  16. 16.

    Soprano2

    I’m trying to imagine any of this happening in a White House occupied by a Republican president, and failing. It just wouldn’t happen at all.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin courted controversy when she denied that supporters of Donald Trump behaved like cult members.
    ………………………..
    “The definition of a cult,” Palin told the rightwing network Newsmax, “is a group of people who are excessively supporting one another and a cause. [It’s] all about conformity and compliance and intolerance of anyone who doesn’t agree with what their mission is.

    She’s got a bad case of footinmouthitis.

  21. 21.

    Rusty

    My oldest daughter works for Step Afrika and was at the White House for the performance.  She said the whole evening was fantastic.  It was her first time hearing Joe Biden live, and she was so moved to hear him speaking so directly about all the work to be done around racism.  She came away so inspired.

  22. 22.

    Scout211

    @lowtechcyclist: Important detail: the enslaved persons already knew.  The Union general’s arrival informed their (now former) masters that the Army was now present to enforce that freedom, and that they could no longer treat people like property.

     

    Highly recommend the beautifully written novel, The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris.  It is set in that exact time period and weaves an amazing story about how that monumental change affected the people and the culture in the South. Among the main characters are two brothers who are recently freed, a family who befriends them and the town and culture in Georgia that is not ready for change.

  26. 26.

    Jeffro

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Important detail: the enslaved persons already knew.  The Union general’s arrival informed their (now former) masters that the Army was now present to enforce that freedom, and that they could no longer treat people like property.

    I did not know that – thanks!

    In any event, it’s a date worthy of recognition.

    Amen to that!

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The 25 best stunts in cinema – ranked!

    There are all good, like 13. Stormy Weather (1943) of which he said:

    Sometimes there is a fine line between a dance routine and a stunt routine – and the Nicholas brothers skip across that line during Jumping Jive, accompanied by Cab Calloway’s orchestra. Watch and wince as Fayard and Harold Nicholas leap over each other’s heads and down a staircase, doing the splits each time they land.

    but it’s very subjective. Still, a lot of fun to watch the one’s he picked.

  31. 31.

    Tinare

    @satby: I was obsessed with that series when I was a kid. I remember lying on the bed in my parents room watching it on PBS on their small TV. (I have four older brothers, so I seldom got to choose what was on the main TV in prime time the Livingroom when I was a kid.). She was wonderful in it.

  32. 32.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Scout211:

    the town and culture in Georgia that is not ready for change

    Sounds like every town in MTG’s current district or Jody Hice’s former one

  34. 34.

    sdhays

    @Baud: Same. It made me wonder if it was a question from her beauty contest days.

    It might seem like an odd question for a beauty contest, but I’ve never watched one, so I’ll just assume that they throw out weird questions to spice things up.

  35. 35.

    JCJ

    @Tinare:  Wait a minute – are you saying that when Ted Nugent and Kid Rock went to see the TIFG at the White House there wasn’t happiness and joy?  //

  36. 36.

    lowtechcyclist

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’m currently taking a four-week zoom course on the history and lasting impact of Juneteenth, and in last week’s intro class the instructor emphasised that point again and again.

    A big thumbs-up for your instructor!

  38. 38.

    UncleEbeneezer

    For anyone in the Pasadena area, there will be a Juneteenth Rollerjam sponsored by NAACP at city hall on Saturday, 4-9pm with a dj, food trucks etc.  We will probably just go to eat and people-watch and hopefully see some friends, since we don’t have skates of our own (we need to buy some for next year).  Anyways that should be a fun time.

    Sunday we will be going to the Hollywood Bowl for Jazzfest.  Seeing the West Coast Get Down (the collective of amazing, black musicians from LA, made most famous by Kamasi Washington and Thundercat) but we are most looking forward to Big Freeda, the Queen of Bounce, who will be the perfect person to run the party for both Juneteenth and Pride.

  40. 40.

    p.a.

    Open Thread so: anyone into The Expanse?  It came recommended by a few people whose taste we trust, but we’re well into season one and, well, “there’s no there there”.  Unlikeable characters, unrelievedly grim (settings and acting), convoluted plot (and I had no problem following stuff like Game of Thrones, The Silmarillion, etc…)

    So: just need to plod on a while, or is this what it is going to be if we stick it out?

  42. 42.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @p.a.: We tried it and got kinda bored after only 20 minutes or so.  I know people rave about it but we just couldn’t get into it for some reason.

    Speaking of GoT though, I’ve been seeing posts from Westerios on Twitter popping up a bunch over the past few days commemorating big events in GoT history.  Yesterday was the anniversary of Cersei humiliating walk.  Two days ago was the death of a certain Stark family member.  And it just brings back so many memories of how great that series was.  So many times a sudden plot twist made our jaws drop and hearts break with some horrifying event.  Out of all the great shows that built your hopes up and then suddenly crushed them (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad etc.) I still don’t think ANY of them can really touch GoT in this regard.  No matter how you felt about the ending or the final season, it was a HELL of a ride!

  43. 43.

    narya

    @p.a.: I read the series and liked it very much (I think I’m still a book or two short of the full thing). I liked the tv series, but I had the book-knowledge to help me along–I thought it was well-cast, in that the actors matched the pictures in my head. I had to stop watching when it went to Amazon, because I don’t do Amazon. You might try the books instead, or prior to the series?

  46. 46.

    cmorenc

    @Maxim: He actually was not elected mayor, but neither was the white dude who had been mayor for the previous umpteen years because the town had never bothered with holding any elections for either mayor or town council.  So the black guy timely filed the statutory paperwork to run for mayor at the next election date, and the white dude never filed any of the required paperwork at all, let alone in timely fashion.  But no actual election was held, and so black dude claimed the office by default as the only candidate who would legally be on ballot, had an election occurred.

  47. 47.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @p.a.: One problem with the early going in The Expanse is that it has three apparently unconnected storylines, but they do all come together about at the end of the first season.

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Rescuers are continuing a grim search off the Greek coast as hopes fade of finding survivors from an overcrowded fishing boat that capsized and sank on Wednesday, killing at least 78 people, amid fears that the number of victims could reach 500.

    “This could be the worst maritime tragedy in Greece in recent years,” Stella Nanou of the United Nations’ refugee agency told the Greek public broadcaster ERT. Another UNHCR official, Erasmia Roumana, described the disaster as “really horrific”.

    Roumana added that the survivors were in a very bad psychological state. “Many are in shock, they are so overwhelmed,” she told reporters in the port of Kalamata. “Many worry about the people they travelled with, families or friends.”

    All 104 survivors were men aged between 16 and 40, authorities said. Most spent the night in a warehouse in the port. “They’re from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Egypt,” said Giorgos Farvas, Kalamata’s deputy mayor. “We’re talking about young men, mostly, who are in a state of huge psychological shock and exhaustion. Some fainted as they walked off the gangplanks from the vessels that brought them here.”
    ……………..
    Greek police and coastguard officials said they were working on the premise that “as many as 500” people were missing. “It worries us that no more [survivors] have been found,” said police inspector Nicolaos Spanoudakis.

    “Survivors have been interviewed, procedures typical in any EU country are being followed. Right now everything is guesswork but we are working on the assumption that as many as 500 are missing. Women and children, it seems, were in the hold.”

    A picture in the video shows horrific over crowding on the deck. The article also states that the holds on these smuggler boats are usually locked as a form of crowd control.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    Has anyone else watched Mrs. Davis on Peacock? It’s a limited series (8 eps, IIRC) about a nun who’s on a quest to find the holy grail and take down an algorithm (the titular Mrs. Davis) that has taken over people’s lives worldwide. That summary doesn’t even scratch the surface — man, what a wild ride!

  53. 53.

    Scout211

    SCOTUS rejects challenges to law that governs tribal adoptions

    The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected challenges to a federal law that prioritizes the placement of Native American children with Native families or tribes in child custody proceedings.
    . . .
    The 7-2 decision backs the law passed in the wake of decades of hostility on the part of the federal government when it comes to child custody issues and traditional values of Indian tribes.

    Writing for the majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that “The bottom line is that we reject all of petitioners’ challenges to the statute, some on the merits and others for lack of standing.”

  56. 56.

    Anoniminous

    EU is shaking off regulatory capture by the Tech Bros.  European Parliament banned computer applications, e.g., ChatGPT, imposing an unacceptable level of risk to people’s safety and privacy.  European Commission took the first steps to break up Google’s ad business.

  57. 57.

    trollhattan

    @p.a.: I’ve sampled it and it didn’t take. TBF beginning with S1Ep1 would be a better test, but anyhoo it didn’t particularly pull me in and I’ve not revisited.
    It’s reputed to be the space show that “gets the physics right” and thus, no audible pew-pew-pew or exhaust spewing engines and such.
    My gold standard for space adventures remains the “Battlestar” reboot.​

  60. 60.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @rekoob: Thanks for posting. I didn’t realize you’d decided to move it out of Center City. Investigating the transportation options.

    Is anyone else not having their nym / e-mail info saved any more?

    nvm, I think it’s because I’ve been cleaning out some cache and BJ just got caught in the crossfire.

  61. 61.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Betty Cracker: Watched the first couple of episodes so far. It’s a good, weird, hilarious show, though there’s a lot of quirky-for-the-sake-of-quirky that might be too much for some people.

    I also binge-watched the whole first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds since they made it free on YouTube (to promote Paramount+ subscriptions for the second season, which just started). It’s good! Not perfect. But I think that of all the later Star Trek shows that have been made, it comes closest to reviving the vibe of the original series, but updating it to be relevant to our time. There’s some legacy of Star Trek: TNG in there too, particularly in the way the show remains episodic, not heavily serialized like many others in the franchise, but still has ongoing character arcs–also in how ostensibly secondary characters will sometimes be the protagonist of an episode.

    I am actually tempted to re-subscribe to watch the show, though the Star Trek content on Paramount+ is likely all I’d really want to watch there (and maybe the Jordan Peele Twilight Zone, which I never got around to seeing).

  63. 63.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @OzarkHillbilly: Because your quoted passage talked about dance, I immediately thought of Donald O’Connor’s amazing dance routine in Singin’ in the Rain. I’m so glad to see that made the list, at #15.

    Overall I find that film kind of meh, but I will always stop to watch Gene Kelly dance. It’s the only one I’ve seen O’Connor in.

    Edit: Ha! Then I was thinking “Jackie Chan has done some crazy stuff in fight scenes” and lo and behold, there’s Jackie Chan at #6. Good list.

  64. 64.

    dnfree

    Not a Juneteenth reference, but my husband just read in the newspaper that one of the transgender attendees at the White House Pride celebration made a social media video of herself bare-chested (with hands over nipples) on social media.  She’s apparently been banned from the White House as a result.  What’s interesting to me is that I heard nothing about this from my usual news sources, but apparently right-wing sites are all over it.  Apparently it’s been brought up at the White House press briefing and denounced as inappropriate at a family event.

    Her defense is that it’s not illegal in Washington DC and that she believes in the “Free the nipple” movement.  I think a couple of transgender men also showed off their top surgery?  I say it’s still bad judgment at that location and event.

  65. 65.

    Splitting Image

    Sorry to hear about Glenda Jackson. She was a good ‘un.

    She appeared as a lunatic Cleopatra on Morecambe and Wise in 1971. She parlayed that into both an Oscar-winning role in Touch of Class, and the lead in Antony and Cleopatra at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Not bad for 15 minutes of work.

    Glenda Jackson on Morecambe and Wise

    I loved her as Elizabeth R. I also saw her as Lady Macbeth back in the ’80s opposite Christopher Plummer. R.I.P.

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    @Matt McIrvin: ​Agree on “Strange New Worlds.” Terrific cast, fun episodes, packed with adventure and misadventure, not self-important or preachy.

  67. 67.

    Betty Cracker

    @trollhattan: Hubby and I were equally enthusiastic about that show, which is somewhat rare.

    @Matt McIrvin: Haven’t watched SNW yet, but that description is intriguing — will have to check it out! Peele’s version of Twilight Zone is good!

  68. 68.

    cain

    @FelonyGovt:  Yes, definitely cruel.

    But also, if they want to send the hardest working part of their population to us – we’re more than happy to take them. Hopefully,, they’ll take our right wing entitled assholes in return.

    Texas doesn’t deserve them and they clearly agree.

    Still, it’s human trafficking and the feds need to step in and kick their ass.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    @dnfree: You are correct; wingnut media is all over that incident at the White House Pride celebration — from the volume of the screeching, you’d think the POTUS stored atomic secrets in a tacky bathroom at a gauche social club that is positively crawling with foreign spies or something!

  70. 70.

    cain

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hope the people who organized that trip are held accountable. They purposely overbooked that boat because of greed and killed a bunch of people, and traumatized the survivors.

  74. 74.

    Matt McIrvin

    @trollhattan: The really hardcore Star Trek nerds who care deeply about canon consistency still get bothered by how this show with mostly modern science-fiction aesthetics could be a direct prequel to the 1960s series (the star character is supposed to be Christopher Pike, the captain of the Enterprise before Kirk who we saw in the original series episode “The Menagerie”), but I think that most of the time they’ve struck a balance where your imagination can do the remaining work.

  75. 75.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @dnfree:

    one of the transgender attendees at the White House Pride celebration made a social media video of herself bare-chested (with hands over nipples) on social media.  She’s apparently been banned from the White House as a result.  What’s interesting to me is that I heard nothing about this from my usual news sources, but apparently right-wing sites are all over it.

    A trans man who had top surgery also took his shirt off was standing next to her. But absolutely no mention of him, and he’s been cropped out of the photos that are being shared.

  76. 76.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @dnfree:

    Good grief. There are idiots in every demographic, but still. Why embarrass your supporters and hand your enemies a weapon? Super bad judgement. Thankfully this little incident will pass as the screechers inevitably find something new to screech about.

  79. 79.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Interesting that the male/female standards for top-baring (one ok, the other not) are being applied in this case. Nonetheless, it was a stupid and unnecessary act, inappropriate to the situation and location.

    ETA: I’d say the same for cis individuals who did this too. Wrong time, wrong place.

  81. 81.

    James E Powell

    @p.a.:

    I stayed with Expanse out of curiosity and ended up liking it. By that I mean 3-1/2 out of 5 liked it.

    I don’t care whether a show or movie set in space gets the physics right. When do shows or movies about X get X right? Lawyers? Never. Politics? Nope.

    Shohreh Aghdashloo is very good and if you stick around long enough, you get David Strathairn.

  82. 82.

    tam1MI

    @trollhattan: Agree on “Strange New Worlds.” Terrific cast, fun episodes, packed with adventure and misadventure, not self-important or preachy.

    Let me add my voice to the chorus of praise for Strange New Worlds. Two other new Star Trek series that are worth checking out are Lower Decks and Prodigy. They both play with the Star Trek formula a little bit, but they are very much Star Trek shows.

  84. 84.

    Matt McIrvin

    We are also continuing to enjoy For All Mankind and Poker Face though in both cases we’re way behind where the show is now.

    For All Mankind is Ron Moore’s alternate-history melodrama about the American space program in a timeline where it went way, way harder, spurred by the Soviet Union landing on the Moon first. We’re at the point where it feels like the technical details are starting to get more and more fanciful, and I’m grumbling about technical quibbles. But the period detail is fun.

  85. 85.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @O. Felix Culpa: The Christofascists in general tend to ignore that trans men exist.

    Probably a combination of sexism, I think a number of cis men driving the trans genocide are attracted to trans women (it’s definitely one of the more popular genre in porn).

    There’s a screenshot being circulated on Trans Twitter of a comment of one of the better-known reactionary influencers saying that the trans woman had the White House was hot, and another man agreeing with him (albeit both of them misgendered her). It’s truism that trans chasers tend to be socially conservative. On Twitter they’ll trash a trans woman in public, and then DMing her saying but she’s hot, and wanna fuck?

    And yes, it was definitely Not Helpful, and poor judgment.

  87. 87.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Sister Golden Bear: And there’s just the fact that these guys don’t know any way to react to or interact with women that isn’t about their own feelings of attraction, or lack thereof. When they think about trans people it’s largely about whether they get a boner and what that might imply.

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