George Wright: Juneteenth means to me that it is the date June the 19th 1865 when the
union army arrived by ship into Galveston, which was an island at Texas announcing to
the people of Galveston and then spreading from there to everyone else that slavery had
ended. That the civil war had been concluded successfully for the union some two months
earlier. It meant that President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January the first
1863 could now be in effect in Texas.
Ja’Mahl McDaniel: You know, I did not grow up learning about Juneteenth, and so once
I was able to find out... um… this untold history, I think I took a lot more pride in
wanting to not only celebrate Juneteenth but also to continue to actively learn myself
and educate others um about its importance.
DeShana Collett: As the fourth great granddaughter of four veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops
who fought for freedom, I am proud to celebrate Juneteenth as a day of independence. It means
freedom and liberation and acknowledges the strength and resilience of black people. It
represents the breaking free of bondage and barriers that my ancestors have faced in the
past and those that we still face today, as systematic oppression is still alive.
Kaylin Batey: So Juneteenth is pretty special to me. For a lot of people who discover it
kind of later, they often think of it as like a second independence day. The reality is,
for my ancestors and for my family, it was our first. And so Juneteenth holds a lot of
importance because of that but also it’s a day of just like celebrating resiliency
that’s so evident in our heritage and really just a day to rest and reflect on the challenges
but also just it’s a joyous time of reflecting on what we’ve overcome and kind of where
we’re going on this continued fight for equality and for justice.
Melynda Price: Liberation of any kind, be it, you know, for people who were enslaved,
or people who were in concentration camps, or people who have been wrongly convicted...
liberation is always a moment for celebration. Always. And so we celebrate on Juneteenth,
and now the University of Kentucky is officially part of that celebration
George Wright: I think it’s very important that the University of Kentucky has made Juneteenth
an official holiday.
Eli Capilouto: We took account of things and said we needed to remember. And certainly,
I’m sure, more people now are more familiar with what Juneteenth is, what it represents,
and the history behind it.
Michael Rowland: I think it’s a great opportunity for us as a community to get together, but
also to learn about one another’s culture, why we celebrate Juneteenth, what it means
to African Americans, what it means to formerly enslaved people.
George Wright: But Juneteenth was to not only was to remember slavery, but the people of
that day going forward wanted to then lay out an agenda for progress for the people
who had been enslaved. And so in making it a holiday it is a time to look backward, to
look at where we are today and to set goals for the future.
Ja’Mahl McDaniel: I hope that, you know, for UK, that we are able to take it as an
opportunity to one reflect, really think about what does it mean in 2021 and continue on
to think about the struggle and the fight for equality and justice for African Americans.
Kaylin Batey: Think about Juneteenth as a time not only to reflect on what’s happened,
the success, those efforts, but also looking ahead and what needs to be done to really
make that American promise a reality, a strong reality for black Americans.
Deshana Collett: I am proud of the university for making the commitment to acknowledge and
honor Juneteenth, as it is part of the collective history of America. This is a day to learn
more about Juneteenth. Knowledge is power, and power leads to action and change– change
that acknowledges that black lives matter. We aren’t truly free until we create a just
world for all. To do this, it begins by acknowledging our nation’s true history, celebrating and
promoting freedom, equity, and prosperity for all.
Melynda Price: We need more days, months, and weeks that recognize the legacy of slavery
and all the places where it proliferated, and Central Kentucky was one of those places.
So if celebrating Juneteenth at the university brings more recognition of the experiences
and the lives and then the emancipation of the people who were enslaved in this locale,
then I think that’s meaningful. That we as a nation, we have very little in terms
of a national, a national moment to stop and recognize the horrors, the violence, the you
know, sort of sexual violation that was entailed by child slavery in this counry and if the
proliferation of Juneteenth brings us to that day, both nationally and here at the University
of Kentucky, it’s a good thing.
President Capilouto: So it’s a time of reflection, celebration, and what’s so important that
all of us understand more completely our history.
George Wright: What I hope people take away from Juneteenth is that it is a time for us
to reflect on our past, that’s important to me, but, in the programs that were held
beginning in the 1860s, 70s, and so forth, it was also a time that brought white people
and black people together.
Michael Rowland: It’s not just a black holiday, it’s everyone’s holiday and everyone should
join in the celebration, everyone should get something out of it.
George Wright: Well surely it should be a day that brings us together now, for us to
remember, for us to reconcile, for us to look ahead, that’s what I think Juneteenth means
to me now, and that’s why I am convinced that what the University of Kentucky is doing
is very significant.