Juneteenth is now a paid holiday?!
This is a facebook post I made. But it was too important not to share here.
I posted this on June 18th. The day before Juneteenth.
And I’m sharing this now because a FB friend just made my friggin day…
She posted that Juneteenth is now a PAID HOLIDAY in Santa Clara, California! Woohoo!
If you don’t know what Juneteenth is, no worries. I copied and pasted my exact post explaining the whole thing below (and btw I also linked to the original post with the song at the bottom of the page:
I often hide…
I hide my Blackness from bankers, potential landlords and even baristas, pretending they’ll treat me equally…
I hide my best original songs, and play covers…
I hide from my loved ones, working 24/7…
I hide my plans, and put them on the back burner for “people of power” – Often walking on eggshells and posing just so they’ll call me back…
I hide from my friends, and continue “social distancing” as I have been since 1983…
I hide my kids, hide my wife, and hide my husband too (2010’s joke- if you know you know 😂)
But in all seriousness: How much of this HIDING is genetic?
-My ancestors have been hiding since they were shipped in the bottom of boats to America.
-Black Americans hide from suspicious cops, security guards and even “good samaritans” who are on that “neighborhood watch”
-Black Americans hide or at least tense up when we drive or walk through a “nice” neighborhood.
A lot of us HIDE our anger and trauma to survive in a land our great great grandparents were whipped into working for, and who their great great grandparents were shipped as cargo to and separated from their families in.
✅ HOW MUCH of this hiding has seeped into MY DNA?
✅ How much of my need for solitary stemmed from this?
✅ I even hide from big crowds, which is ironic for a musician, but apropos for a pandemic…
✅ I’ve trained people over the years that I only get so close-
And once you get that reputation, people tend to leave you alone (Which is GREAT for a hider-awayer but has it’s draw backs)
So for me, tomorrow, June 19th (Juneteenth – The celebration of the end of U.S. slavery) is a celebration of FREEDOM from slavery… because THANK GOD ✅
And for me personally, it’s ALSO a Freedom celebration of “coming-out-of-hiding” in a way…
Will I suddenly be filling my calendar with social gatherings, events, gigs and outings?
Absolutely not. For one, we are STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC
And also, but less importantly, I AM a big introvert who thrives in solitude 💯 That doesn’t mean I’m so introverted that I won’t check you if you say some racist shit around me- that I WON’T be hiding 💯
But in doing that, I also won’t be hiding my grace…
Because first, do I check myself before speaking? Not always. Second, am I perfect? Not at all. And third:
As some of my closer friends know, I’ve had a history of being a “nice guy” but then blowing up “randomly” because perhaps I hadn’t been speaking my true opinions all along… And finally the pressure mounted 💣 💥
So Juneteenth, for me and for so many others who tend to hide away, maybe it can be a day to remember… To acknowledge the horrors Black Americans so recently endured, and still do…
And to celebrate the END OF U.S. SLAVERY ✊🏾
Also to acknowledge that we have made progress, because as President Barack Obama said, “Don’t say we haven’t made any changes since the 1950’s, unless you were a Black man who lived in the 1950’s”
And for those of us who STILL hide our true natures to survive within the system, maybe on Juneteenth we can celebrate a new system:
For me that system looks like keeping the kindness my Mom and Dad raised me to have, but discarding any “niceness” that dumbly comes at the expense of my True Self.
For me that new system discards people-pleasing, because WHY? It means chucking my old existence meant to appease people of “power”… Because like slavery, that “living in the margins” is now a thing of the past.
So today, the day before Juneteenth, it means letting my light sh-
No. Actually it means: Letting my DARK shine… Because what’s so bad about the dark?
✅ I go into the dark every morning when I meditate.
✅ My best ideas come from “quieting my mind”, and slipping into the dark…
✅ My best songs come from my so-called “Dark-side”…
✅ “Dark humor” is often the best, most side-splitting humor that magically heals 💔 🤣 ❤️
✅ My skin is dark.
✅ The darkness hid runaway slaves from their captors.
✅ The most successful people tend to work in the dark, become successful first, and THEN announce their success to the world.
✅ The Dark is where Divine Intelligence speaks to me so clearly during quiet moments.
✅ To me, Dark brings Grace:
Because it also symbolizes the intelligence and discernment to process difficulty and grief, WITHOUT letting it overcome you… And while in difficult times, darkness can be the tool that extracts the immense POWER that the difficult time is trying to GIVE you…
And darkness helps me rise from those ashes anew, renewed and powerful 👊🏾 Darkness is Wisdom.
I hear some White counterparts these days saying that being anti-racist is “so hard” or: “It’s so draining” or even: “It’s so uncomfortable to discuss” 🙂
Well, honestly it’s OK to sit out for a while if you’re uncomfortable. I’ve certainly done that in the past within in MANY areas of my life, so I can’t judge…
But to the people doing anti-racist work for the first time, thank you. I know it’s a lot. And I would recommend looking at your Black counterparts:
And say, imagine for one minute what THEIR experience must be like on the daily… 🤔
What kind of intelligence, wisdom, resourcefulness, strength, adaptability, meditation, grace and HIDING must it entail?
#Blackness
So to celebrate Juneteenth, I am releasing a new music video that has been in hiding – And it is ABOUT running and hiding…
It looks/sounds good, and I’m excited to share it:)
Here is the video below: 🎵 🎥
#Juneteenth #ComeOutOfHiding #Freedom #BlackLivesMatter #LivingInAmerica
PS thanks for reading and watching the video! If you like the music and wanna check out more, you can do so By Clicking Here
*Or start a new thread by leaving a comment below!
Increase The Peace,
-B
