In Galveston juneteenth coloring, Texas, slaves were told they were free more than 150 years ago. Utah has made Juneteenth National Freedom Day an official state holiday. About a year after the holiday was made a federal holiday, this happened.
After this, the Utah Board of Higher Education agreed to put the holiday on the calendars of universities. This year, June 19 is a Sunday, so Juneteenth will be celebrated at the University of Utah on Monday, June 20. Professors are encouraged to cancel classes on that day.
From now on, classes will not be held on holidays juneteenth coloring.
Meligha Garfield, who runs the Black Cultural Center at the U, said that this is a recognition of a troubled past that the country hasn’t dealt with before juneteenth coloring.
“But by saying, ‘Hey, this is our country’s history and past, but we’re moving forward, and we’re actually celebrating the people who were enslaved here in the U.S. because they really built this country,'” he said, “we can move forward.”
In the years to come, Garfield hopes that Juneteenth will be as important as other holidays and that the important history of those who were enslaved will be known and talked about in the weeks before Juneteenth.
“On top of that juneteenth coloring, I’d love to see the U on campus wrapped,” he said. “Throughout the year, people from different backgrounds, ideologies, and orientations have been able to wrap the U, and I would love to wrap the U in the Juneteenth flag in the future.”
On June 15, the BCC will work with the U School of Medicine and the U’s equity, diversity, and inclusion division to host a summit honoring the holiday’s main theme: “Black excellence, achievement, education, and freedom.”
On Tuesday, June 21, from 9 to 10 a.m., the BCC and the division of EDI will host a ceremony to raise the flag in honor of the holiday.
Garfield said that the fact that the U is recognizing and celebrating the holiday says a lot. He hopes, though, that they will honor Juneteenth in a way that is more educational than the way other holidays are.
“I would love juneteenth coloring for the university to be headed in the right direction, where it’s not as commercialized but is still educational, and where we can really teach our students about that troubled past, which we don’t always talk about as much or as often,” he said.
Garfield doesn’t want Juneteenth to be like Memorial Day Weekend because it took a long time to integrate schools after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, and some slaves didn’t find out they were free until the 1960s.
Garfield hopes that instead juneteenth coloring of giving money to a cause, people will take the time to learn about the historical and modern importance of Juneteenth and the contributions of African Americans to this country. This will help them fully understand and appreciate the importance of Juneteenth.
“They were here before the country was founded, and all of their contributions to American culture, including the building of the White House, inventions, music, entertainment, and all sorts of other things, will be remembered for a long time,” he said. “There have been many contributions, and we started out as slaves… I want people to remember and be able to talk about that time.”
The advisor of the Black Student Union, Jasmin Clardy, said that the recent recognition of Juneteenth by the federal and state governments feels like a breath of fresh air.
Clardy has had to take a day juneteenth coloring off or have a party on the weekend for each of her jobs.
She said, “It wasn’t so much a party for where I worked as it was a party for me.” “And I think that’s a really important part of history, so I think it should be celebrated often and on a national level.”
Clardy shared Garfield’s worries about commercialization. He said that being able to celebrate on a federal level is a big step forward that will hopefully keep Americans moving toward justice.
“Most of my grandparents are dead now, but to be able to see the day when they will be proud… “It’s amazing to see people celebrating the freedom for which they fought so hard,” Clardy said.
“The fact that Juneteenth falls on a juneteenth coloring weekend but will be celebrated by the U community on a weekday is a symbol of the holiday itself,” Clardy said.
She said that the fact that slaves did not know they were free on Juneteenth is a sign of knowledge. “It took a little while.”
Clardy said that the holiday is not a time to compete or fight against any beliefs. Instead, he said, it is a time to celebrate.
She said, “It’s just a common understanding that celebrates and should celebrate: the day that slaves were freed, too, was the end of the Civil War.” “It was finally starting to feel like I was a real American. Not a slave. Not an item or a thing. Not useless, being thought of as an American.”
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