Category: Holidays

Freedom Day?

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people be freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

 — Jae C. Hong/AP

Celebrations of the holiday started out regionally in Texas, but as Black Americans spread out across the United States, they brought their traditions with them, including remembrances for one of the final vestiges of chattel slavery.

— Alana Wise/NPR

This is a federal holiday. Many of us would love to be off from our jobs to celebrate and reflect upon it, but depending on the industry in which you work (if you work), this isn’t so. 

I work in the medical field: specifically, radiology scheduling. We do not get Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off, so of course, Juneteenth will not be any different. *Insert unsurprised look here*

Although, much to my chagrin, I am off from work for a different reason. 

I am not feeling well; taking a chance on creating a new dish that included adobo and coconut and a host of other spices (and it was incredibly delicious), then following that up with a huge bowl of ice cream, my body has taken a stance all on its own to have me laid up, attempting to recuperate from a MAJOR digestive response to my eating habits last night.

I have grown used to not being off when my peers are — to batting away at incoming calls left and right in order to schedule patients for their much-needed procedures. Before this position, I was used to checking patients in or screening them for COVID-19 symptoms and ensuring their medical insurance coverage was up-to-date and accurate.

And before that, I had been explaining medical insurance coverage to patients and informing them of their estimated out-of-pocket due for certain gastroenterological and eye procedures. I am used to working when others are not for federally recognized holidays.

And if my digestive system was up to it, I would be logged on at this moment, taking calls.

But for those of you who are off; for those of you who can celebrate this day and reflect upon it in ways that are beneficial to you and your community, I hope you will.

Widespread recognition of the holiday was slow moving. For years, it was a relatively obscure holiday celebrated among Black people with little acknowledgment or understanding from outside cultures and communities.

— Alana Wise/NPR

While I am recuperating and learning my lesson from concocting things my body cannot tolerate, I will further educate myself on this glorious day by reading about specific events, festivals, and moments of reflection that took place this weekend and will take place today.

Grow in peace. Grow in love. Even though this is Freedom Day, many of us are still not free.

Peace and blessings.