Juneteenth Becomes a Federal Holiday in the U.S. while Fight for Justice Continues

Amanda Barnes shares this original art piece in celebration of Juneteenth

This weekend, communities across our nation honor Juneteenth. This practice was well in place even before bipartisan support in Congress on Wednesday decided to make Juneteenth a federal holiday; the last federal holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was created 38 years ago in 1983.

In recognition of June 19th and our freedom-making ancestors, Amanda Barnes has crafted this original art piece that details how Juneteenth is embedded within the fabric of U.S. history and peoples of African ancestry. 

She shares the concept here:

“I was reminded of a biblical tale about a man with blindness who declared, ‘the scales have fallen from my eyes’. This signifies to me that justice is a slow process with many steps and many soldiers. Even with a federal holiday of Juneteenth afoot, we cannot be blind to the truth of systemic racism. We are still in the fight - to defend Black and Brown lives, to end state violence, to talk about critical race theory within our schools, to make reparations real in legislation. There’s nothing worse than an untrained soldier in times of war. We still need to be vigilante.”

We wish you and yours a rejuvenating and reflective Juneteenth weekend. We invite you to download the original Juneteenth artwork created by Amanda Barnes here.