Celebrating the holiday of Juneteenth 2020 is more than an awakening in freedom’s song. Freedom is beautiful! Liberation is intrinsic. For a people to see one particular aspect of their culture, as a representation of their humanity, and existence, is phenomenal. Juneteenth should be reflected as more than an annual holiday. When it comes to the feminine presentation, and depiction of Black American womanhood (and femininity), there is a holistic factor as it translates into having representation. It means that one’s image, and culture, is being honored and recognized. Furthermore, it leads to a path of inquiry, as it relates to the role of the feminine presence, of a specific community.
The auspicious attribute surrounding Juneteenth is that it affirms Black American people, through a flag’s representation. Flags are symbolic of a people’s presence on certain lands. Furthermore, it affirms that a culture has claim to a particular soiling in Earth’s spacing. It means that a people have been legitimized. When a people have been reflected through color, it translates that a culture is connected with their very existence. No longer can they be portrayed as “cultureless,” or simple energies of Blackness to be breathe, whiffed, and plucked away for another culture’s gain. For Black American people to have one authentic representation, through a Juneteenth flag, means that our physical being has been re-connected to the Earth. This is what makes it such a phenomenal, and profound, celebration. The Juneteenth flag means that we are re-nourished with the Earth. It defies the very existence of the institution of slavery in the United States of America; whose purpose it was to remove us from our natural alignment with Earth’s soiling.
There are have been so many symbols thrown upon, and reflected by Black American people. Yet, how are they authentic? What makes them authentic? Do they reflect the culture, and experience of Black American communities? Are they practical and useful for tools of direction, engagement, and the ability to empower the community? Are these symbols rooted in accuracy, and birthed from the actual existence of Black American people? These are important questions to be asked when dealing with issues of the most suitable representation. Too often we get caught in the fiction of greatness, and representations, which have not been birthed from our existence. For Black American people, we can not claim what we have not produced, from our very Being. Therefore, what symbols have we created and produced, that articulates our very existence? What gives us that aura in how we are to accurately represent ourselves?
The Juneteenth flag articulates Black America’s experience in our journey here, in these United States of America. It is an auspicious display, which highlights our presence outside of an enslaved image. This flag, its coloring, and the symbols, permits us to color ourselves. It is rooted in our her/history, and personal experiences. No one can lay claim to it. That is why it is a real symbol for Black America. Always remember that an authentic symbol is a nutritious one. It is relieving! It removes any level of fakery, and lifelessness, which has been placed upon our existence. No other culture can lay claim to that symbol.
When it comes to the presence of Black American women, it is important to address how we are able to utilize this holiday as a holistic representation of our womanhood. Seeing that flag as a legitimate depiction of our presence is significant; especially, within these given times. It reflects that we have a particular, and unique, space on Earth. With a specific connection to spacing, comes a level of representation. With representation comes acknowledgement, and an awakening that people must respect that a culture has a Mother figure.
A flag soothes and intertwines our feminine image back to the Earth. It ensures that our bodies have intertwined with Earth’s natural shaping. It is an important aura, and it demands, that women never lose that connection with the Earth. Quite honestly, the Juneteenth flag is a healing experience. It creates a euphoria, and an opportunity, for Black American women to find nutrition in the very same Earthly plane, designed to strip us from our femininity and womanhood. Its one of the greatest forms of justice. Having a flag allows for that to happen. It represents the different parts of the United States we are connected to. Our physical, emotional, and spiritual footprints were forced to locate some level of compatibility with this land. And yet, one of the nutritious aspects pertaining to that flag is how it affirms Black American people, as having a culture and community of our own. It is a prime jewel into how we are moving, and progressing, into the recognition of our presence; and not just a pseudo form of recognition. On the contrary, it brings a level of respect and dignity for Black American people in the legitimacy of our community. Erasing the shackles, and past actions, to break apart our families, intimacy, and loving relationships.
There is a holistic and healing regiment, which arises in symbolic representation. No, I don’t mean one that pertains to struggle. Or one that is based on being in a consistent mode of combat. I specifically talking about a flag, which embraces the humanity of Black American people. A flag, which highlights our story, and raves in the authenticity of our particular journey and painting to the human experience. This is why the Juneteenth emblem is such a sacred endeavor. No longer slave, or enslaved. We are one of humanity’s many cultures. Re-claiming for ourselves, our humanity. Believing that we are deserving of the riches of the human experience, is one of the highlights of our healing journey. And finally, we paint that journey with our own coloring. A representation which does not trap, nor enslave us, into traumas of the past. Yet, they reward us with the very essence, and dreams, of our foremothers and forefathers. Living those dreams and coloring them with a liberating reality!
It is the feminine energy of any community, who has the power to bring restoration and healing. It is the feminine principle, whose responsibility it is to color her people, in a way that reflects their beauty to the Universal gaze. One such coloring of Black America is the Juneteenth flag. Not only does it defy past memories of slavery’s expectations and demeaning of a people in the United States, but it affirms a new coloring in their re-commitment into the human experience. For Black American women to color our people in this flag, means that we are bringing a balance into our communities. Our authentic, feminine presence is important. Once Black American women find a level of re-centering in our own communities, our children will continue to existence in a space of re-centering. A holistic, safe, and centered place. Painted in the peculiar humanity, they were meant to partake in.
