Juneteenth & kids
I will be the first to admit, the first time I heard the word Juneteenth (a combination between the words June and nineteenth) was not in elementary school history class, it was when I was visiting my brother in Texas in 2010. While I was there in early June, I saw advertisements for Juneteenth celebrations. At the time, I had never heard the word and had to Google it to learn more. I was living in Virginia at the time and when I returned home, there weren’t any more signs of Juneteenth in my part of the world.
Fast forward to June 2022 and according to Pew Research Center, the majority of states now recognize June 19 or Juneteenth as a public holiday this year – meaning state government offices are closed and state workers have a paid day off. What brought on this huge change of awareness in the past 10 years of this holiday celebrating the true end to slavery in the US? While I can’t say for certain, I would like to think it is similar to gaining new tools and information when parenting.
When you gain better information, you implement it– when you know better, you do better.
And while we have a lot more work to do, I am thankful to live in a time where we can acknowledge that growth and change is possible and in fact, it’s expected through adulthood.
The state of North Carolina, where we live, does not yet hold Juneteenth as a public holiday, but we are lucky to be part of organizations that do. This means that our work and school will be on hold to pause and reflect on the meaning of the day.
Holidays like Juneteenth can be very hard for young children to conceptualize since they have not actually experienced the event. And if I’m honest, this same thing is applicable to older children and adults. Don’t be embarrassed if you are learning beside your child, I know I am.
It can also be hard to teach children about Juneteenth because talking about it involves defining slavery to children, which is hard and you may be unsure if your child is old enough to grapple with such a concept. While I encourage you to trust your gut on what to share and what not to share I would like to share the definition of slavery I use with my children (ages 3 and 5). I share with them that slavery is when someone does lots of hard work for someone and they do not get paid any money. Yes, slavery is SO MUCH MORE than this but for a young child, they can relate to this. They will understand that working hard and not receiving anything in return is not good.
My go-to for introducing hard topics, books, are not the best resource for introducing this particular hard subject.
WHY? Because there aren’t many of them and because many of them don’t depict the true experience of slavery, with all of its hardships and inequity, while also recognizing the enslaved African Americans ability to persist.
Below are three more resources I will be using to spark conversation and awareness in my home. If you choose to follow suit, I can guarantee one thing– your child will ask you questions that you will not have the best answer for. That’s okay! And totally normal. Be prepared to let them know you are learning too and you may have to research it more before you answer. And remember, parenting is a learned skill. And just like learning other subjects or sports, when you know better, you do better.
Additional resources to help you get the conversation started:
Opal Lee and What It Means to be Free (my personal favorite)
Gracie’s Corner Juneteenth Song (try not to like this one)