Juneteenth

In the car on Friday, my children asked me what Juneteenth meant.

I started by explaining the historical facts as I know them. 900 days after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863, Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX at the end of the Civil War June 19^th. 1865. Major General Gordon Granger read General Orders No. 3, which finally informed the 250,000 enslaved people in Texas that they were free.

This moment did not immediately change the conditions for the formerly enslaved, and many became sharecroppers for the former slave owners. History Professor Erin Stewart Mauldin reminds, “Individuals had to fight for every piece of freedom they experienced and the struggle for justice that started long before the war did not end with emancipation.”

The moment, I remind myself, was my great-great grandfather’s generation. Four generations before me. Not long ago.

I paused and checked in with my children.

Juneteenth is a moment to be honest about our country’s history. Not to sugarcoat it, not to erase it, but to embrace the ugly, the horrific parts of our country.

Juneteenth is a moment to re-commit ourselves to standing with and for those being erased in this moment – peoples of color, LGBTQ+, women, the poor. It is a reminder that shackles remain on too many in 2026.

Juneteenth is a moment to stand for science and the planet at a moment when powerful voices tell us neither are worth standing up for.

Juneteenth is a moment where we can love our country and at the same time be deeply disturbed over what our country has become and is becoming.

Juneteenth begs for a patriotism that sees that while slavery ended, our nation has never been emancipated from the racism that led to slavery and the genocide of Indigenous peoples.

Juneteenth pleads for us not to celebrate our 250^th in blind, flag-waving, amnesia, singing “America the Beautiful” but rather to see our country for the traumatized, flawed entity that it is. It asks us to continue working for political and economic freedom for all peoples, driven by a hope and belief that America can be beautiful yet.

Creating Community

There are days when I am saddened by the impersonal, self-centered, disconnected world we have created. With AI, and our inability to tell whether the person answering the phone or email is a human or a bot, it will only get more challenging.

On my walks and runs, I am now often greeted by “Hello” and turn my head in excitement, only to realize it is someone’s security system saying to all passer-by’s “Hello, you are being recorded.”

Not exactly the best way to build community, huh?

But, I also see the other side.

My neighbor Cathi whose chickens lay nice eggs that I then buy from her.

My neighbor Roger who sprinkled us with water from the hose on a recent run by his house.

My neighbors Tim and Jessica who let me pick fruit from their trees.

The Sanchez family who actually thank me for picking their cherries. “It should be me thanking you,” I always respond.

The folks with amazing grapes along the ditch who came out to see what I was doing, and instead of yelling at me, offered me bags to collect the grapes in.

[Yes, I really love picking fruit. “I am a forager, not a grower,” I tell folks.]

And then there was the recent visit to Gyros Mediterranean where they insisted on some baklava on the house just because I coached the owner’s daughter.

[Yes, the larger theme here is that Anthony loves free food]

And in my recent health challenges, the multitude of people who have showered my family and me with kindness on a daily basis.

So, as I take it all in, here are my thoughts:

If we value community, we have to do the work to create it.  Contributing to and serving our relatives, our neighbors, and even the strangers in our midst. Receiving from them in return.

Increasingly, this requires us to go against the grain of tech-infatuated society. It requires us to resist tantalizing things offered to us, always with a promise of making our life easier. Yes, but at what cost? And is the easy life a fulfilled one?

And for those who read these words and feel the same frustration I feel when tricked by the electronic security systems offering me a threatening “hello”, maybe the key to creating community is closer and simpler than you think.

Maybe it is going to say hello to the new person who just moved in down the street.

Maybe it is offering some fruit to a passer-by.

Maybe it is the random act of kindness for a loved one that you are going to do today.

Love to each of you this Monday!

And momma, a very happy birthday to you today. You are an amazing guiding light in my life. Everything I write and do is a reflection of you.