Beforeword: Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. It became a federal holiday in the United States in 2021.

Free, Not Free

The declaration rang out
Crashing through Congress halls
Reverberating across states
Proclamation of liberation
Breaking slavery’s stronghold
Yet
Liberation’s dawn was delayed
Silenced for two and one-half years
Freedom stalled at the horizon
Massa’s grip tightened
Freedom declared
Yet freedom withheld
Free, not free

In the shadows of deception
As days turned to months
Months turned to years
The shackles lingered
Around wrists and ankles
Of those who toiled on
Unaware of the broken chains
A paradox etched in the soil
Where news arrived late
Lingering in untold tales
Where some sang jubilant hymns
While others knew not the lyrics had changed
Free, not free

Juneteenth
June 19, 1865
A second birth of
Liberty, unobscured
The undeterred crawl of truth toward justice
Steady as dawn
It came
Free, not free

Marcus Garvey’s words a beacon:
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery”
For chains unseen bind tightest
Freedom must be claimed in heart, in mind, in spirit
For liberty blooms not only in fields and on flags
But in the fertile soil of awakened minds
Where seeds of empathy and justice take root
Where the harvest of equality awaits
A reminder etched in the annals of time
Of struggles waged
Of victories won
Of battles yet to come
Free, not free

On this Juneteenth
Let us pause to reflect and renew
To honor the journey
From bondage to liberation
A pledge to self to the ongoing quest
For a world where freedom rings true for all
Free, truly free

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For more about Juneteenth, you may like this post here!

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In creative solidarity, Dee