What is Juneteenth?
On Jan 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which read in part: "that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free." However, this Proclamation did not reach all enslaved people in the Confederate South and in fact, was not always enforced by Union soldiers. TWO AND A HALF YEARS after the Emancipation Proclamation, word finally reached one of the farthest slave-holding states - Texas. On June 19th, 1865, Union Army Major General Gordon Granger issued an order that read:
“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
---------
June 19, or Juneteenth now represents the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Also known as "Freedom Day", this commemoration began in Galveston, Texas and is now celebrated in communities nationwide.
National Black Muslim COVID Coalition
Celebrate Freedom Day with the
National Black Muslim Coalition!
National Black Muslim COVID Coalition
National Black Muslim COVID Coalition
Muslim organizations across the nation are issuing statements of solidarity and pledging to counter anti-Blackness and police brutality. From Ronald Stokes, Amadou Diallo, and the nationwide protests against the murder of George Floyd Black Muslim Activism is intertwined with the Movement for Black Lives. This panel aims to raise awareness about the movement to defund the police, abolish ICE, abolish prisons, reparations, and organizing to address racial inequities during COVID. This panel will provide context for the growing push for Muslim organizations to adopt a racial justice framework and divest from law enforcement, mass incarceration, and surveillance, and invest in our communities from healthcare, to schools, to rehabilitation programs.
Confirmed Panelists
-
Asha Noor | Communities United for Status and Protection
-
Donna Auston, Ph.D. | Black Muslim Coalition
-
Shaykh Hashim Ali Shabazz | scholar and activist
-
Iesa Lewis | Believers Bail Out
-
Kenyatta Bakeer | MuslimARC and Black Lives Matter-LA
-
Mohamud Mohamed | Chaplain MSA University of Minnesota
National Black Muslim COVID Coalition