2021-06-18 12:53:27

Clint Smith on Juneteenth & Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

As President Biden signs legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday to mark the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Democracy Now! speak to the writer and poet Clint Smith about Juneteenth and his new book, “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America.” “When I think of Juneteenth, part of what I think about is the both-endedness of it,” Smith says, “that it is this moment in which we mourn the fact that freedom was kept from hundreds of thousands of enslaved people for years and for months after it had been attained by them, and then, at the same time, celebrating the end of one of the most egregious things that this country has ever done.” Smiths says he recognizes the federal holiday marking Juneteenth as a symbol, “but it is clearly not enough.”

14th Amendment Amy Goodman Clint Smith Democracy Now! Juneteenth

Racial Justice & Equity

Rising Up With Sonali

Tackling Asian Hate, 2 Years After Atlanta Spa Shooting

Tackling Asian Hate, 2 Years After Atlanta Spa Shooting

The Randi Rhodes' Show

DOJ Calls Out Louisville's Police Department for Racial Disparities

DOJ Calls Out Louisville's Police Department for Racial Disparities

Democracy Now!

Meet the Bronx Activists Who Won a Historic Settlement for NYPD's Violent Attack at 2020 BLM Protest

Meet the Bronx Activists Who Won a Historic Settlement for NYPD's Violent Attack at 2020 BLM Protest

Rising Up With Sonali

Seattle Becomes First City to Ban Caste Discrimination

Seattle Becomes First City to Ban Caste Discrimination

Related

Democracy Now!

Top U.S. & World Headlines — March 23, 2023

Top U.S. & World Headlines — March 23, 2023

Democracy Now!

The U.S. Owes Iraq "Just Compensation": Muslim Peacemaker Sami Rasouli on 2003 Invasion & Aftermath

The U.S. Owes Iraq "Just Compensation": Muslim Peacemaker Sami Rasouli on 2003 Invasion & Aftermath

Democracy Now!

Andrew Bacevich on China's Rise as Global Superpower & Decline of U.S. Empire After Iraq Invasion

Andrew Bacevich on China's Rise as Global Superpower & Decline of U.S. Empire After Iraq Invasion

Democracy Now!

Top U.S. & World Headlines — March 22, 2023

Top U.S. & World Headlines — March 22, 2023

Proud Partners