Juneteenth – Our Unapologetic Legacy of Black Excellence & Joy
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. This changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans. However, several rebelling states continued to practice slavery. On June 19th, 1865, the Union Army enforced the proclamation that all 250,000 enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas, were free. This became known as Juneteenth.
Walking to school as a 5-year-old holding my 6-year-old sisters’ hand is a favorite memory from the 1950s. I had no idea that I was hated for the color of my skin. I was giddy every day for the opportunity to learn, explore, and grow. Juneteenth is more than the pathology of racism. Juneteenth is about joy, about building steel, building Black Excellence.
In the 50s and 60’s de Facto segregation meant we attended all “Negro” schools, with exceptional “Negro” teachers in all “Negro” neighborhoods, with all “Negro” ecosystems. Much has been “centered” on the pathology of supremacy, hate by white people, and systemic impacts. This was NOT our daily preoccupation. Then the four pillars of our world were a safe place to excel with our Negro teachers setting a high bar for mathematics, history, science, but especially reading. Our four pillars of school, church, neighborhood, and leaders required three mandates: excel at all things academic, do not have criminal behavior, and make us proud. On Saturdays, our local public library was packed. It was free and held the keys to unrestricted knowledge. That self-determination and standards of excellence through a segregated community allowed for a Juneteenth “steel.”
At 17, I would become the very first African American Female Congressional Page through the auspices of my local Congressman and a newly minted Congressional Black Caucus established in 1971. The mainstream media decided to not recognize this historical moment, but the collective syndicate of African American newspapers and Jet magazine shared it far and wide across hundreds of papers. I had Congressional mentors of Shirley Chisholm, Andrew Young, and William Clay. Today, we can celebrate the Juneteenth steel that is President Barack Obama, Nobel Laureate. By the 1970s and 80s we had a Juneteenth playbook, the bigger the barriers the bigger our level of excellence. We had Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall from 1967-1991. Today, we have Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Motown Records, a cultural zeitgeist, was founded in 1959, Spike Lee became a phenom in 1986, and today Tyler Perry has a billion-dollar film empire as well as two major TV networks. Beyonce and Jay Z have achieved world dominance. Because Juneteenth Steel is about prolific, unrelenting, unapologetic Black Excellence.
“Juneteenth is more than the pathology of racism. Juneteenth is about joy, about building steel, building Black Excellence.”
Today, Black Excellence continues to elevate us in an era of divisive performative corporate pledge-making, as seen after the murder of George Floyd. The signs are everywhere that Black people take immense pride in reinforcing our cultural norms, celebrating our milestones, and centering our own narrative. In the climate change sector, we follow in the achievements of the father of Environmental Justice, Dr. Robert Bullard, who delivered the research in 1979 for America's first-ever lawsuit against polluters, charging environmental racism under civil rights law. He now serves on the White House Environmental Justice Council.
Former President Barack Obama (as a senator) with Wangarĩ Maathai. (photo attribution, By Fredrick Onyango from Nairobi, Kenya, CC BY 2.0)
With looming planetary tipping points, we carry on a rich commitment to preserving natural resources through robust collaborative efforts like Black in Marine, founded by Dr. Tiara Moore to amplify Black marine scientists. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, is the co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab. We have a rich agricultural history of Black farmers who pioneered important tilling and land management practices in response to a lack of resources from the U.S. Farm Bureau. Today, these practices are called Regenerative Farming but originated by Black farmers like my grandfather. We are also inspired by the excellence of Nobel Prize Laureate, Wangarĩ Maathai who founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 to plant trees across Kenya.
“The signs are everywhere that Black people take immense pride in reinforcing our cultural norms, celebrating our milestones, and centering our own narrative.”
A central theme for Black excellence is our belief in the Diaspora – our connection across the globe to other people of African descent. In 2022, I was humbled to be invited by the esteemed Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle, Ph.D., President of National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable, to author a book chapter, The Future of Work at the Intersection of Climate & Equity. Peer-reviewed knowledge – by us, for us.
While, halfway across the globe, I serve as the Chief Environmental Advisor for the Lot Water Project in Zimbabwe. This water project is the vision of Innocent Hadebe, born in Zimbabwe and a Director of Business Excellence for Chic-fil-A. Black Excellence, rooted in the Juneteenth legacy, is meaningful, prolific, deeply-based in cultural values, and above all – how we define our unapologetic joy, our Black Excellence. Juneteenth is our story, told through our euphoric and colorful legends.
About Charlotte King
Charlotte King is an Advisory Panel member for Diversity in Sustainability, a global sustainability thought leader with a half million media impressions, and a peer-reviewed author with a Masters in Sustainable Energy & Environmental Management from Georgia Tech. She’s a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and devoted to her Doodle – Kobe C. Harper. Contact her on LinkedIn.