Welcome to the Tweep Trends podcast. Hey, Evette, what's trending today? Hey, I'm Evette, hey girl. And you are tuned in to Tweep Trends.
It's the quickest way to find out what's trending today. Juneteenth is just around the corner, so let's get started. As of today, President Joe Biden signed a new law making Juneteenth a federal holiday. And for those of you that don't know what Juneteenth is, it's also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, and it's the oldest celebration of African-American freedom.
And one that maybe didn't know this, that has already officially been recognized by almost every state in the union. And basically, it's a state or ceremonial holiday in 47 states as well as Washington, D.C. So basically, the signing of this law is kind of for show, if you ask me, because states have already been acknowledging it. It's just that now it's gonna be a federal holiday, and on June 19 federal employees will actually have the day off.
Yay, one more day that you don't have to go to work. However, my question is, now that it's a federal holiday, what are we gonna do with it? Do we make Juneteenth like a Fourth of July where you have a bunch of people having cookouts and just coming together to eat? Or do you make some type of educational component to Juneteenth, and therefore it becomes a tool instead of just a fun day, basically?
And I'm not expecting anyone else to do this for us. I'm expecting the Black community to come together and say, okay, we've got Juneteenth, let's do something with it. Kind of like how you have all of these oratorical contests around Martin Luther King's birthday and things like that, where he was a great speaker, it makes sense to have oratorical contests around that time. It only makes sense.
So what is gonna be the thing that we create around Juneteenth? Choo-choo-choo! As I ponder that idea, I can't help but to think of the big controversial topic right now, critical race theory, and how they're talking about banning it from schools because they don't want Caucasian children to feel bad about themselves or to think that they are bad or that they must be racist because of this theory. And I'm wondering if this is the lane for Juneteenth to then be that place, that time of year, when we go hard in the paint and teach young Black children about critical race theory, that we, you know, granted it should be a year round thing, it shouldn't be something that we just pick a time for, but maybe this will be the spotlighted portion of the year when it gets a little extra shine.
And then that way, if it does get taken out of schools or not put in schools or whatever, if it is completely overlooked by mainstream, then it won't be overlooked by us because we have to think about the whole idea of legacy. There is a legacy among African Americans, you know, that we've come from a place, we were brought to a place, and a lot has taken place since that arrival. And whether we like it or not, we can't change that narrative. It does not change because we simply want to will it to be different or wish it were different.
We have to go with what it is and what it was, but what it will be, the future, we've got all control over that. So the whole idea of if you don't know where you've been, then you don't know where you're going, to me, that speaks volumes in this type situation. We have to let our children know where we've been and be honest with them about it. No, it's not a pretty history, it's not cute.
But African Americans have had so many contributions to society, to the building of this country, the wealth of this country, that we need to know and understand what our real place was. We can't look at it like we were the hired help because nobody was paying us, you know? So you can't be hired if nobody puts you on the payroll. So just saying, maybe, just maybe, critical race theory is the thing that needs to come to Juneteenth.
Okay, so not to stray too far away from the topic at hand, which was Juneteenth, where we started. I'm viewing this as an opportunity for us to put together some programs, some activities, some productions, even, maybe a Hamilton type series of plays or musicals or whatever, to kind of give everyone a taste of the information and then spark that little bit of curiosity in people and then maybe they'll go out and do some more research on their own. Or, you know, and I will admit, I'm one of those that's saying, you know what, I can't do this on my own. I'm looking for a team.
This needs to be a group effort because, reminds you, I am a math person. I'm not big on history on presenting it in a way that is going to make people get excited about it or anything. So yes, I would be looking for other people to join in and let's put our brains together, let's do a group think and come up with some ways that we can actually do this because when you look back and think about this, January 1, 1863, President Lincoln's order took effect, basically saying to those states that did not accept him as president and also putting a message out to those enslaved African-Americans saying, here's the deal guys. It was like the Emancipation Proclamation wasn't agreement between the president and African-American saying that if you help us overthrow the state governments that do not recognize me as president, then guess what, you will have earned your freedom because the government, we see y'all as free already.
It's your state that has the problem. So that's how I look at this. It's like, so he was saying, so you fight against them, you get to be free. So basically freedom was one on the battlefield because then from there, colored troops were critical but you don't hear a whole lot about that.
You have to do the digging to get to that information. That information isn't sitting on top. Although from what I understand, it was back then, back in the day, that was a big talk about what had taken place. However, in the early to mid 20th century, there was a concerted effort to suppress the story.
And I kind of look at it from the standpoint of, if I don't tell you that you're great, if I don't let you know that you're great, if I hide all of your greatness and continue to let you believe that you're less than and below and all that's where I can keep you and that's where you can stay. Case in point, I have an email address that's best teacher ever. And whenever I use it to sign up for things or whatever, sometimes people get it, sometimes they don't. And but the ones they get it, they'll see it and be like, oh, that's kind of cool.
What made you decide to come up with that as your email address? And I said, you know what, if nobody else is gonna say it, I need to at least be able to say it and believe it. Nobody else is gonna toot my horn for me. So let me toot it, toot, beep, beep.
Yes, I am the best teacher ever. I believe that. That's how, that's my word. That's what I live by.
And I got students out there that can attest to it. And they'd be like, yeah, she is pretty darn good. You know what? And so I feel like it's the same thing.
If we're not given those bits and pieces, those gems, to know that the African American legacy is great, then we'll continue to think that we are less than, that we can't do, that we need handouts, that we need this and that and the third. We don't need anything. We got this. We've been had this.
It's kind of like, Lizzo. It's like, I've been it, you know, I don't play tag. I've been it. Yes, we have been it for the longest.
But we just have to realize it. Okay, well that was today's episode of Tweet Trends. And I hope you got something from it. And most of all, I hope that you are now making plans for Juneteenth.
It's a couple days away. And I wanted to make sure that I put it right there for you to see and remember, because sometimes we get busy and we tend to forget things. So it's a couple days away. First question is, how are you going to celebrate?
Second question, and actually your homework assignment, is to look up some information, whether it's about the Emancipation Proclamation, whether it's about Juneteenth, just something, some nugget that you can share with somebody that maybe they didn't know and share that knowledge. Because knowledge is power. So when you're sharing that knowledge, you're sharing the power. Make sure you vet the resources, though, that you use.
Don't go to Wikipedia and think in the June, talking big talk, because we all know Wikipedia is put together by just random people, putting information in. So don't necessarily go off of what Wikipedia says. Vet your resources first. But yeah, but do something to uplift, to raise awareness.
Let's put together some think tanks and come up with some ideas. If you don't have anybody to toss the ideas around with, hey, by all means, reach out to me. I'm here, I'm ready, I'm willing, I'm able, hit me up at hevet, that's at hevet, e-v-e-t-t-e, or just look for the hashtag tweet trends. And you can find me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you know.
So have a great weekend, enjoy your Juneteenth holiday. And I'll see you guys back here again on Tuesday.