Over the past six or seven months, Krissy and I have really stepped up our knowledge surrounding black people and our struggles, politics, and tactics used by other groups to keep us down. While today is considered a major holiday by others in our society, over a hundred years ago our ancestors were lied to in a vicious game of keep away. Today is just another day for us.  

While we don’t watch any of the mainstream news media outlets (ABC, Fox, MSNBC, etc.), we keep up with the more grassroots efforts and talking points now. Before, I would say we were living in a vacuum. Of course we knew discrimination was still very much so rampant in today’s age, but now we consume content that helps us identify those with us, those against us, and tactics on how to move in such a society. 

Our journey began with a YouTube content creator named Phillip Scott. Kris found him originally and thought his reactions and takes were very funny, especially when he reviewed videos of Karens. Uncle Phil has multiple channels where he discusses issues that plague America, Africa, and the entire diaspora while keeping an underlying theme of not relying on “them folks” for anything. He educates in an entertaining way, and I’ve learned so much about our background just from watching the many clips he posts. 

I’ll definitely say our journey took a step further when we started watching Tariq Nasheed heavily. His content is definitely serious but there’s a lot of funny segments where he’s battling trolls or debunking myths so easily accepted by the vast majority. A lot of his content overlaps with Phillip Scott’s except for the major issue surrounding the continent of Africa. Phillip Scott believes Black Americans will know no peace living in a country where we aren’t the majority while Tariq disagrees with fleeing your home country and that there are stark differences between Black Americans, African Americans, and Africans. 

We are currently making our way through Tariq’s movie “American Maroon” and so far it’s really good! There were a lot of things that I never knew since “history” is taught by “them folks” who also don’t want the truth to be known. We’re a little over an hour in, with two more to go. It’s definitely heavy content, but so vital in truly understanding our lineage, past, and how those same struggles are seen today. 

Tariq speaks more on the lines of us not leaving the country we helped build and instead work to break down the system that currently exists. That includes sitting out of political voting cycles if neither party is doing anything tangible for Black Americans, walking out of stores that racially profile you to steal, and calling out the suspected members of society who believe one race is superior to others. Other content creators that have helped lead us to the “woke” path include Oshay Duke Jackson, the late Kevin Samuels, Jaye de Black, and Pink Book Lessons among a few others. 

So, yes, while today is a national recognized holiday, it’s not a holiday for us. July 4th is Independence Day for the original British colonists who escaped the crown, but Juneteenth is Independence Day for the Black Americans who had to wait and suffer an additional two years before finding out they were finally free citizens. By celebrating those who oppressed and continue to oppress us, we are basically abiding in our own downfall. 

Will things ever get better? Maybe. Will things get worse before they get better? Probably. The most important thing we can do is once we know better, to do better. That includes not spending our hard earned money with those who don’t respect us as citizens, refusing to play into certain tactics *them folks* use to get us out of character, and figuring out some plans to rebuild our community, our way. 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie