Emancipation Day

Juneteenth marks a day of understanding. It celebrates a day when people who had been in bondage received the news that they actually were free. That the bonds had been broken. And if they chose to, they could begin to live life on their own terms. Make their own choices. Find their potential.

Juneteenth exists every day we wake up. Every day we have another breath in our nostrils. All of us can receive the news that we are not what people say we are. We are not what teachers or employers see us as. We are individuals who can decide for ourselves who we will be. Although our parents may have had some ideas about us, it is not up to them to choose for us who we are. And who we become.

Juneteenth reminds us that we can make choices. About our beliefs. About how we see our circumstances. About how we will respond to the various and sundry stimuli that we experience. About what is important. About what we will prioritize. About whom we will be today.

Today, like every day I woke up and started my day. I have preconceived notions of who I am and what I can accomplish. I can base my actions on yesterday's experiences. I can base my decisions on yesterday's priorities. I can look around at my circumstances and decide that I have no power to make any changes. That again, today will be like yesterday.

But is that the truth? Is that reality? Or is it a prison of my own beliefs? Am I really a slave to my own thoughts and beliefs? Or is it possible to change my mind? To change my life.

It was not too long ago that the UN Buildings were rubble. That it was in the minds and hearts of a few people that they would terrify people by brutally attacking places in the United States with airplanes. And many people were terrified. And shocked.

I worked nights back then. So, I did not see the attacks live. I saw the News Reports after the fact. And it was scary. The idea that people hated me enough to attack the country I live in with such random and completely arbitrary methodology started to terrify me.

I made a choice that day. I chose to believe that I would not be afraid. That no matter what happened, I would not be fearful. That I would not allow anyone to terrify me. No matter what.

But many of us who witnessed the 911 attacks became fearful. Including many of those we entrusted to lead our country. They failed to choose and just responded. With fear. They failed to believe that we, as individuals; could choose to not be terrorized. So, they took away some of our liberties because they failed to believe.

Just like the first Juneteenth, some of us will fail to believe that we can be emancipated. Some of us will hear the good news and choose to believe that it is not true. That freedom is not for us. That it is easier to cling to the past and our own understanding. That freedom is for other people. In other places. With other circumstances.

Today, like every day some people will fail to grasp the notion of emancipation. We will tell ourselves that we know ourselves. And our circumstances. And our limitations. And the limitations that society or economics or geography places on us. And that emancipation is not possible.

Today like every other day, although we can be emancipated from the prisons of our own beliefs; some people will choose to remain in slavery and bound by their own limited perceptions and opinions. Just like every Juneteenth. Just like every day. Some people will choose to refuse to change. And remain in servitude to others.

What will you do? Will you refuse to believe? Will you refuse to change? Everyday can be Juneteenth. That choice is yours.