White Bears in Sugar Land: Juneteenth, Cages, and Afrofuturism
June 19, 2020 2:32 PM   Subscribe

"That year, 1878, the 14-year-old boy, if he is not already serving time in a cell or on a plantation, will arrive at his destination and not last the year. Out comes confetti. Emancipation? Freedom? The whole thing was a hoax."
posted by simmering octagon (5 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is very good and I hope more Mefites will read and comment. I had never heard about the emancipation caveats: "no one will help you so don't ask, " to the former slaves.
posted by emjaybee at 7:06 PM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


This is a wonderful, dense and heavy piece, that will sit with me for a while. Or I will sit with it. Thank you.


Links and annotations, for myself and anyone else who'd like to read and know more.

Authors mentioned, plus some extra links: Historic events: posted by filthy light thief at 10:42 PM on June 19, 2020 [14 favorites]


That was an incredible read - thanks for expanding my reading list - and thanks for the additional links, filthy light thief!
posted by invincible summer at 1:43 PM on June 20, 2020


God that was powerful, I'm still wrapping my head around all the different threads he pulled together.
posted by coolname at 1:13 AM on June 21, 2020


I'm only partway through, and only know the half of it ... but every time I try to convince my colleagues at this underfunded small liberal arts college that we should be focusing our curriculum on racial justice and dismantling white supremacy, I can't even make an adequate case because so many of my professional colleagues have no clue about this history or all the components put together here.

I'm very grateful for this, in other words.
posted by allthinky at 10:41 AM on June 21, 2020 [1 favorite]


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