Tag Archives | Juneteenth

  • Juneteenth celebrated in Emancipation Park, Houston, Texas in 1880 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

    The problem with Juneteenth

    Juneteenth was a people’s holiday with deep meaning for the descendants of enslaved people. But the declaration of an official federal holiday has turned it into an opportunity for corporate exploiters and cynical politicians to show pretend concern for Black people. At best Juneteenth provides a history lesson and an opportunity for much needed political education.

  • Chains breaking

    Juneteenth: A Marxist perspective

    This year’s commemoration of Juneteenth–the day the last of the enslaved Black people in the United States were formally emancipated–is also a reminder that the job of ending all forms of slavery is not yet finished. As Karl Marx wrote, we have nothing to lose but our chains and a world to win!

  • 1863 depiction of planning for the Nat Turner uprising

    Revolutionary Black resistance has a long tradition

    As the country faces crisis after crisis–an economic one, on top of a war against Black America all against the backdrop of a global pandemic–a small minority of the rich elite continues to profit off this misery, generating over $308 billion since the start of March.

  • (Photo by Paul Marotta via Getty Images)

    Watch Angela Davis and Boots Riley speak at Oakland’s Juneteenth rally

    “Our power comes from the fact that we create the wealth. Wealth is power. We have the ability to withhold that power.”