were put in place in America to “criminalize” Black people in order to legally use them as unpaid labor under the guidelines of the 13th and to prevent African-Americans from voting.
Historically, Juneteenth has been a time when we celebrate the accomplishments we’ve had as African-Americans and to refocus on the struggle at hand, but this year feels different. This year’s Juneteenth is taking place when millions of hearts around the world have been broken by the seemingly endless video feeds of police brutality. Millions of eyes have been opened by systemic racism and the actions of racist individuals that are now being viewed around the world.
3. Finally, I believe we should be defunding and demilitarizing our police and begin to think of public safety in a whole new way.