Fern Remedi-Brown wrote an excellent article titled “Juneteenth Recognizes the Beauty of and the Ugly Truth of U.S. History.” Read an excerpt below; full link at the bottom.
“On June 19, 2021, Malden observed its 4th annual Juneteenth celebration. In the words of Karen Colón Hayes, KCH, Candidate for Councilor-At-Large in Malden, community organizer, and member of Malden Community Organizing for Racial Equity (MaldenCORE), “the celebration was the result of a year of hard work, together as a team, to put together this critical event, pushing the dial forward on dismantling racism.”
For Erga Pierrette, co-convener of MaldenCORE, community organizer, and one of the speakers at this year’s Juneteenth, the organization of Juneteenth was “absolutely amazing on so many levels. There was collaboration and folks had so much willingness to step up.” She remarked that “The vision that I had about the Juneteenth flag being raised throughout the entire District became a reality because MaldenCORE made it happen and the Mayor’s office supported that effort.”
Aside from the event itself, Malden’s Juneteenth celebration is now serving as a catalyst in other ways. She said, “In the heart of it all, it’s about the education and the knowledge and to learn about the true history, which brings me back to the importance of decolonizing the curricula, one story at a time.”
Erga’s statement at the end of her interview is central to the theme of Juneteenth: “I think we have to center humanity when we approach this topic and we approach these stories and really be able to tell it.” In conclusion, Erga said that “we need to be mindful and intentional about connecting all the dots.”
Read the full article by Fern Remedi-Brown on Medium here.
