Here are some resources that, at least nominally, deal with Juneteenth. The hope is that together these resources will provide a context for further discussion and contemplation.

The resources themselves vary from the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation on NPR to a podcast featuring the New Yorker’s Jill Lepore on Ralph Ellison and the writing of his novel, The Invisible Man, to a particularly interesting, at least to me, podcast on the limits of power describing what happened in Belfast Ireland during “The Troubles” and, last, an involved discussion with Jeremy Scahill that takes a deep dive into the history of rebellion and authoritarianism in U.S. history.

Regarding Juneteenth, Juneteenth goes back to 1865 when a Union general entered Galveston, Texas, and announced to the people in slavery there that they had been freed. The celebration spread from Texas throughout the South, and from there to the present.

From NPR, a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation:

From the podcast” The Last Archive” with the New Yorker’s Jill Lepore, an episode about Ralph Ellison and his novel, The Invisible Man.

From Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell, a program that delves into the dynamics of power, and its limitations, as demonstrated in Belfast, Ireland, and the clash between Protestants and Catholics:

From “The Intercept” with Jeremy Scahill, an involved discussion of U.S. history as seen from a different perspective that is particularly pertinent today: The rebellion in defense of black lives is rooted in US history so too is Trump’s authoritarian rule.