Juanta Griffin has called Oak Park, Illinois home since she was 4 years old, and has been serving our community as an organizer, mentor, and educator ever since. She has a long standing commitment to racial equity and justice -- she created a Black History Program for a local Oak Park daycare when she was just fifteen years old. She also helped usher in Juneteenth as a community-supported holiday in her town. On this episode she talks with Dan about the history of Juneteenth, how all Americans can (and should) celebrate it and more.
UPDATE: After we recorded this episode, the US Government passed a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
“Movements make changes in our country.” Juanta
“It means that my community recognizes the struggle of Black people. Recognizes what freedom means to us.” Juanta
“You can’t appropriate something that belongs to all of us.” Juanta
“You can’t heal if you’re just covering something up.” Juanta
“We primarily know the history written by White men, so there is a lot of history that gets diminished.” Kim
“I’d always thought of Juneteenth as a Black holiday. But we should all celebrate freedom.” Dan
Links for Juanta:
Links:
If you liked the show, please consider sharing this podcast with your friends, family and network. Your stamp of approval is more valuable to us than we can articulate. We’re here to spread love and hope, as well as encourage growth. So we appreciate your sharing! Also, leaving a review (and rating) helps spread the word. And it makes us feel warm and squishy.
The My America podcast publishes every Thursday at 6 AM EST.