Joe Frazier
Q: Why do you celebrate Juneteenth?
I celebrate Juneteenth to honor the struggles, resilience and perseverance of my ancestors, who bore the burden of more than 400 years of slavery, rape, violence, forced separation, maiming and death, while simultaneously building the foundations of the
nation we have today. It’s not like there are any other holidays for Black Americans. Some would argue that MLK Day is one, but even that has been co-opted as a “day of service” instead of a holiday for racial justice and reduces
MLK’s legacy to the watered-down version of the “I Have a Dream” speech. In the United States, everyone loves to celebrate the Fourth of July as America’s Independence Day, yet somehow, we don’t acknowledge the hypocrisy
of this day of “freedom” in a nation that continued to practice slavery.
Frederick Douglass said it best in an 1852 speech: “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.
To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass-fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and
equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-giving’s, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would
disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.”
So, Juneteenth is my Fourth of July. In the words of Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hammer, “Nobody’s free until everyone is free.” So, if anything, Juneteenth should be America’s true Independence Day for us all.
Q: Have you and your family always celebrated? If not, when did you start?
Honestly, no. I didn’t start celebrating Juneteenth until maybe four or so years ago. While I always had misgivings around the insincerity of the Fourth of July, I didn’t know about Juneteenth until it was brought to my attention by my friends.
Now we all celebrate each year!
Q: What are some ways people you know commemorate Juneteenth?
Educational events, Black gift exchanges, and cookouts!
Q: How do you commemorate Juneteenth? Do you have Juneteenth traditions?
Every Juneteenth I barbecue. I bust out the smoker and we have a fun day of cooking out. The act of barbecue, or “pig pickins,” is in itself a piece of Black history with roots both before and during slavery. This year we’ll also be
doing a gift exchange with items purchased from Black-owned businesses.
Q: Why do you find it important that Bellarmine recognizes Juneteenth each year?
It’s important because we now know more history than ever. If we recognize Independence Day but ignore Juneteenth, then we are continuing to uphold the United States’ legacy of white supremacy. Whose freedom is worth celebrating? It should
be the day when all Americans became free—even though framing it that way is still problematic, if we define citizenship and freedom by the right to vote and the time it took for everyone to receive suffrage. BU recognizing Juneteenth falls in line with our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as well.