- We know that July 4 wasn't really
about true freedom for everyone.
- No, no, no, no.
- This is kind of our -- literally our Independence Day.
- Like 60 years later.
(upbeat music)
- Juneteenth was the day
that the last slaves were freed in America.
In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation
went into effect, but not all states
really sort of got the memo in time
and June 19 1865, Galveston, Texas.
- Wow, OK, that was when we
were physically out of bondage on Juneteenth.
- So a lot of my family is from Texas,
so a lot of them try and celebrate Juneteenth
whenever we can.
Whenever we did celebrate, it we always had like
the giant cookouts.
Fried chicken was always on point.
Fried fish was always on point.
- Is it usually always a cookout.
- Cookouts are really the cornerstone of the culture.
I'm sure food is gonna be in there
no matter what. - No matter what.
- I grew up in a West Indian household, so Juneteenth
wasn't and isn't a big part of our culture.
It was something that when I found out
about it I was like, "Wow this is,
how could I never hear about this?"
- Exactly, I feel the same way.
I grew up in a Nigerian household
and our neighborhood
was pretty white, so nobody was celebrating Juneteenth.
I'm not even shameless to say this,
but like a "Black-ish" episode is what put me on Juneteenth.
♪ Talking about Juneteenth ♪
♪ It was the 20th, ♪
♪ but the 19th's when it was told to us ♪
- I think if more people knew it existed,
they would understand why it's important.
Because if we're talking about independence,
the independence of black people
should be celebrated as well.
I think on a state level, it should be a state holiday.
- In 45 states, yeah.
- Oh really? - 45?
- Not even all of them, 45 states.
- 45 states.
- So I mean,
you got five more to go -- might
as well make it national right?
- 100%.
I usually don't like cornbread,
but I'm gonna go for it,
'cause it looks really good.
- I'm going for the mac & cheese.
- So we have this,
the cornbread, some people be having their cornbread
way too dry.
I love little crunch around
the exterior of it or whatever.
- That's why I kind of like that.
- But the middle has to be soft.
- Here's our classic fried chicken.
- I'm just going in.
- Yeah. - That's it.
- Ah ha.
- [Matt] You don't come to a cookout
expecting to sit there
and just be like.
- No, it's not gonna be a neat affair.
- Ah hah, my personal favorite: the mac & cheese.
You can definitely tell they weren't shy
about putting the cheese in there.
Like it's gonna put you to sleep right
after you eat it.
Personally, that's what I look for in my mac & cheese.
- We have the okra.
- [Matt] I personally don't really love okra.
- [Khalid] Really.
- OK, the thing with okra it's definitely like personal,
because it is a slimy situation, so if you're
not used to slimy stuff, it's not good.
And then we have our watermelon.
This is like our redness, all the stuff.
- Like wait a minute, I'm seeing a lot of red here.
I feel like red is probably a theme that everybody knows,
and I'm just the only one finding out now. But
it actually comes from slavery.
The hibiscus plant came over as part
of the slave trade, and so like the red of the hibiscus,
obviously symbolism with the blood of the slaves,
I think they want to just not forget it,
but at the same time, celebrate that they were freedom.
- [Dolapo] OK, this is a huge slice of cake;
this is diabetes all in one plate all right.
- [Khalid] This is like double what I normally eat.
- Um, ah, um.
- [Khalid] Red velvet is always my favorite.
- Oh my God.
- June 19 is the day
that we need to be celebrating
moving forward, and let's try to get it a national holiday.
- Everyone should celebrate it
whether you're black, white, Asian, Hispanic --
whatever you are -- purple, brown, whatever.
We should be celebrating Juneteenth
because it means, it was finally
when everyone was recognized as whole human beings
and not just property.
- If you like to eat.
- Yeah.
- And you like to enjoy yourself
why not celebrate it.
- Try something new.
Go out, lean a little bit.
- Tell a friend to tell a friend about Juneteenth.
- Yes.
- And you will not be sorry.
- [All] Happy Juneteenth.
(upbeat music)