To Have Juneteenth be a national holiday

To Have Juneteenth be a national holiday

Started
June 6, 2020
Confirmed victory
This petition made change with 280,698 supporters!

Why this petition matters

Started by Diamond Smith

We ask that the Senators of this State to advocate for the cause and bring this to legislature in order to review this petition and give us the rights we deserve of having this as not only a holiday but a day of remembrance of all the slaves brought through the Transatlantic slave trade:


We would like Juneteenth, to be a national holiday in support and representation of all the slaves that have been freed through the Emancipation Proclamation signed on January 1, 1863. (According to an NBS News article, “9 Things to Know About the History of Juneteenth.)

Til this day we are not freed according to societal standards and discrimination. Meanwhile there are holidays like Columbus day, and Thanksgiving which was built on lies and white washed history, we would request there would be celebration and honor to all the black slaves who have come to this land unfairly and wrongfully. If holidays like I just named can freely exist for years, why canJuneteenth exist just as freely in respect of the truth as well. “Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States,” Writer Ko Bragg said, “9 Things to Know About the History of Juneteenth.” In an act to recognize this, why can’t law celebrate this as well by giving us this holiday that humanized African Americans and gave them some sense of hope, that they have been toiling at for centuries.

Through this we can, stand united as a country as it truly says through our democracy:

  • We can give honor to those who built this country
  • Mourn our ancestors respectfully and have others join with us
  • Create history
  • Honor the older folk who have seen the horrors of racism and lived to tell the story of discrimination and the compassion they held in their hearts that is keeping them alive today 

            This isn’t created to separate us but to bring us together and draw attention to the awful past that must be done through this simple act. This would be America giving attention and taking accountability for the awful doings in a way where African Americans can freely voice their hurts and pains of what our ancestors went through in a powerful way. Allow us to mourn globally yet peacefully. We are all citizens of America who have rights, and it is my right to request this peacefully with a hopeful heart.


There will be: 

  • Ever Memorial Service for Victims of Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Celebration
  • Discussion and conversation
  • Peaceful gatherings/ meanwhile keeping social distancing measures
  • A reflection 


This is not for me, or just the black community- this is for everyone. To understand our experience, our struggles and to build a bridge on the gap of hate, violence and pain. This is not what America is. This is the home of the free, this is the  country of the brave, the country of justice. If this Country is all of that, we want to see that fulfilled throughJuneteenth being a Holiday. I do not want to be another Opal Lee, a 91 years old woman who protested and walked around the white house to advocate forJuneteenth to be a holiday, she was silenced, seen as strange and even delusional. I am sure there has been plenty who wanted this before her and after her. But even in honor of those people, I want to be heard like they wanted to be heard. I want to speak into this like Miss. Lee has done. If not for me, for Opal Lee, and for the slaves of the Transatlantic trade. (Credited to, article, “One Woman's Quest To Make Juneteenth A National Holiday,” by Micheal Martin.)

 

Thank you all for taking your time to look at this,

Greatly appreciated

Diamond


Martin, Micheal, “One Woman's Quest To Make Juneteenth A National Holiday,” https://www.npr.org/2017/01/08/508842227/one-womans-quest-to-make-juneteenth-a-national-holiday
Bragg Ko, “ 9 Things to know about the history of Juneteeth.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/9-things-know-about-history-juneteenth-n594546

 

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This petition made change with 280,698 supporters!

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