"Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." James Baldwin
In Honor of Juneteenth
Juneteenth holds a special significance for me, because it is a personal anniversary. Six years ago today, I sat at my desk in my empty classroom and looked at the calendar. The end of the school year was not until the following week, and I was meant to retire from my 30 year teaching career then. This was long before the day was declared a federal holiday, but I decided that day that I was done, cleared off my desk, turned out the light, locked the door, and turned in the keys. I walked out of that building without a backwards glance.
While I am a born teacher, and loved every minute of working with young people for so long, the price of staying in the classroom inevitably meant I was lorded over by those who had left the classroom at the first possible opportunity, in search of administrative positions that offered more money, more power, more opportunity to exercise ignorance in lieu of justice. In New Jersey, the part I lived in, anyway, the public school hierarchy was overtly, unapologetically white, male, nepotistic, and racist. The American public education system in general is as much a nightmare as the health care system. If you want to argue the point, then by all means, talk amongst yourselves. I will be busy celebrating my own liberation. So…HOORAY!
On the subject of celebration:
As it is Juneteenth, I decided to pull out my old friends Tarot and Adinkra for today’s message. I had some thoughts about what I wanted to say, but decided to let Tarot set the topic. Here are all the cards:
Tarot gave me the Seven of Baskets (Cups.) This card always employs a surfeit of choices, implying that there is a need for discernment. I like that this card came up on this day, because it gives me an opportunity to say what I really think about this holiday. The Black writer Ally Henny said it best on her FB post today:
“Juneteenth is a day of joy and celebration for Black people, but I don’t think it should be this way for white folk……[For them] Juneteenth (and the two weeks leading up to July 4,)…..should be marked by white people engaging in individual and collective reflection, lament, penitence, and contrition.”
That doesn’t sound quite as fun as celebration, does it? But does America not always take the road of least resistance? pick the most fun path? choose the contents from the 7 of Baskets card that seems most hedonistically enjoyable? I mean, truly, what exactly is it that white America is celebrating today? I’ll cut to the short answer: the fact that they have a day off. Any other answer is disingenuous pandering that will, as always, end at midnight, forgotten in the usual narcoleptic fog required to function, blithely unbothered, as a members of the ruling class.
We all know by now (I hope) that Juneteenth commemorates the day that the last slaves in Texas were apprised of the fact (well after the fact) that they had been freed. America wanted to think, to quote Robert Frost, who was writing on a different subject altogether in his poem “The Death of the Hired Man”
“That ended it. No more to build on there”
White America would like to think that on that Juneteenth, slavery really ended; the slate was wiped clean; time for pulled up bootstraps; time to see mountains as level playing fields; to let bygones be bygones and all the rest.
Not so fast.
Have you heard of the Slavery Exception Clause? Because it is Juneteenth, and a double freedom holiday for me, I will leave you to do your own research. Here’s a hint though: it has to do with the prison industrial complex and how incarcerated people are compensated for their forced labor. It has to do with how everyone seems to be ok with it, given our Puritan- based beliefs about crime and punishment. It has to do with the school to prison pipeline which keeps the labor supply steady, and keeps its colors Black and Brown.
Lenormand makes sure we do not flinch and turn away, with Fish / Coffin / House. The American house, from the White one and extending beyond it, is built on the economics (Fish) of incarceration (Coffin) of the descendants of those originally brought here in chains, whose freedom we ostensibly celebrate today.
Sorry/Not Sorry to be a downer on this day. But Adinkra holds a little candle in the darkness with Mmusuyidee, the symbol which cleanses and sanctifies. How might white America engage in such healing activity? Ally Henny mentions restitution and reparations on both the collective and individual level. She writes:
“There are a ton of Black creators who would benefit from reparations, and there are a ton of Black-led companies, institutions, and non-profits who would benefit from your donations.”
I am a Black creator. I would be appreciative if you who are white, and reading this, were to share my work, buy my book and deck, leave a positive review on Amazon, consider moving from a free to a paid subscription for my words here.
However you mark this day, do know that, for all of us, it is an opportunity to look hard at those 7 baskets, and decide thoughtfully which one we will choose for our own. Here’s a hint: honest conversation and self-examination “trump” ignorance every time. I hope we all choose the basket brimming with justice.
Amen and Ase
If only slavery had really ended then. America’s original sin.
Your book and deck have been so helpful to me, and I’ve enjoyed your interviews on a few podcasts as well. You have helped make Lenormand much easier to understand. 🙏🏼 This post gives me a lot to reflect upon as well. Thank you. ☀️