Today is Juneteenth. “Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day,” says the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Though it has long been celebrated among the African American community, it is a history that has been marginalized and still remains largely unknown to the wider public. The legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of deep hope and urgent organizing in uncertain times.”
Today and everyday, EdNC will be considering our role and the media’s role in perpetuating structural racism.
We should not have had to be reminded of the power of the media. Now is the time to reconsider when and how we cover the news.
Perhaps nothing underscores the importance of the need to be reflective as will the news of this day. It is widely rumored that at 9:30am the UNC System will announced that Peter Hans will be the next system president. A system struggling with its own role in white supremacy and structural racism making the announcement on Juneteenth only serves to underscore the seeming invincibility of oppression. A teacher said to me on hearing the news, “the cruelty is the point.”
EdNC will be covering the news of the transition another day.
Featured Read
Remember these letters Terrance Ruth wrote his son, Miles? On changing the trajectory of black men in North Carolina
You can read all of the letters here: https://www.ednc.org/category/letters-to-my-son/... Read the rest
