According to Harriot, Juneteenth marks the beginning of true democracy in America.
Michael Harriot explains what Juneteenth means to him as Black people’s ongoing struggle for justice and equality is top of mind for many in America.
The following is a transcript of his comments, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
Harriot: [00:00:00] …A step toward recognizing the labor and the effort that Black people contributed into building this country. I think it is a commemoration of how Black people – I’ll never say that someone freed the slaves, I always say that Black people freed themselves because that’s the truth.
Harriot: [00:00:20] But I think that is what Juneteenth means to me and to a lot of people. I also think that it is just as important as the 4th of July, or more important, because this is the first time that America took a real step toward democracy. That’s when the majority of this country were able to participate in democracy. So I think that it’s not just a Black holiday. It’s a holiday that commemorates how Black people worked towards realizing the dream that America had been giving as lip service for so many centuries.
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