Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Watch heartbreaking testimony of Fulton County, Georgia election worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss

Wandrea “Shaye” Mosss, a Fulton County, GA election worker testified Tuesday at a hearing of the House January 6 committee.

Shaye Moss said she, her mother and grandmother were harassed racially and faced death threats by supporters of President Donald Trump after the 2020 Election. Moss and her mother appeared in a video that was the subject of investigations into allegations of election fraud in Fulton County, Georgia.

Watch her entire testimony below:

Monday, June 20, 2022

Vice Pesident Kamala Harris surprises kids at the National African-American Museum on Juneteenth

Vice President Kamala Harris marked the Juneteenth federal holiday with a visit to the National Museum of African American History & Culture where she surprised and spoke to a group of school-aged children.

Newark NJ renames park after Harriet Tubman

Newark marked Juneteenth Monday by renaming a park after American abolitionist and activist Harriet Tubman.

Mayor Ras Baraka unveiled the name change of Washington Park to Harriet Tubman Square.

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Activist allege hundreds of ‘missing African American burial plots’

Metro Atlanta families allege plots of loved ones are ‘missing’ after a reburial project set for completion six years ago. The Clayton and Henry County Chapter of National Action Network (NAN) is accusing the property owners of not following through on a plan to move all the burials 10 minutes away to Carver Memorial Gardens.

Don't let Juneteenth be just another day off

By George L. Cook III African American Reports

Juneteenth marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end of slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday.

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday and it's being recognized by more companies and states every year. Juneteenth is also being quickly commercialized as we saw with Walmart's Juneteenth ice cream fiasco and is in danger of just becoming another day off.

Cookouts and Juneteenth ceremonies will be everywhere this weekend, and that's okay. But let's not lose the meaning behind the holiday.

Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates freedom which is why it's also known as Freedom Day and Liberation Day among other names. The Juneteenth weekend is time to reflect on what the Emancipation Proclamation did and didn't do for freed slaves. It's also a day to also reflect on the 13th Amendment which also in some ways kept certain forms of slavery legal.

It's also a day to question if even now in the 21st Century whether Black Americans are truly free. A legitimate question as voting rights, police reform, income inequality, and quality education and housing are still issues long after the slaves were "freed".

So enjoy the holiday but just remember it's a lot more than cookouts and Red Velvet Cake.

Happy Juneteenth.

George L. Cook III African American Reports.