Roosevelt Student Honored for Juneteenth Essay
Congratulations to Zoe Turner, who will be a sophomore at Roosevelt High School and takes classes at Central Academy, on placing second in the statewide 2014 Iowa Juneteenth Observance essay contest.
Zoe is scheduled to be presented with her award by Dr. David Maxwell, President of Drake University, during the Iowa Juneteenth Observance ‘Community Appreciation Banquet’ on Thursday, June 5.
The Iowa Juneteenth Observance symbolizes the African-American experience in the annals of United States history. The purpose is to educate Iowans on Juneteenth history through cultural diversity activities that help to preserve the Iowa Juneteenth Observance African-American history experience for future generations. The Iowa Juneteenth Observance will culminate in Des Moines on Saturday, June 21 with a parade and neighborhood celebration. Visit www.iowajuneteenth.org for more information.
Below is a copy of Zoe’s award-winning essay:
Juneteenth in Modern America
“Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat” ‐Ralph Ellison
The importance of something cannot die unless allowed to, and the Juneteenth holiday is crucial to the history of our state. Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2015, Juneteenth is the oldest national celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. This is a significant event. Slavery in the United States has been traced back as far as the 16th century, when Spanish explorers brought African slaves with them to the New World. While the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the United States, became effective January 1, 1863, the slaves in Texas were not released until a startling two and a half years later. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced the end of the war and freedom for all enslaved.
A goal of Juneteenth is to gather together the culturally different, locally, nationally, and world‐wide, to teach and share the importance of freedom. Diversity has been a cornerstone of our country’s history. While that diversity has been polarizing, it also can be celebrated.
Technology, however, has had a marked effect on society’s views. The percentage of Internet users of the United States in 2012 according to Internet World Stats is 51.8%. The generation of kids today live in the age of technology, making it harder to live in a biased world. Having such a vast resource for information, the internet has allowed users access to the opinions of an entire world. Before the emancipation, youth were brought into believing that slavery was a normal custom. Without the resources for information that are available today, those children would have had a much more difficult, if not impossible, time to hear the stories and struggles of slaves in America. Even Iowa, which was always a “free state”, had a history, when attached to Michigan and Wisconsin. The State Historical Society of Iowa has a timeline of the history of anti‐slavery in Iowa. The first entry is rather shocking: in 1839 “An Act to Regulate Blacks and Mulattoes” required Negroes and Mullatoes to obtain a court certificate as to their free status, and post a five hundred dollar bond guaranteeing their free behavior. It is doubtful that is the sort of thing the average Iowan is aware of, and an example of a way in which the Juneteenth history in Iowa is being preserved, via the internet.
Though the technology of our current generation is amazing in many ways, it may result in some lack of diversity. Juneteenth being the freedom of a united America still represents the different cultures and it celebrates it. Diversity today has become sort of irrelevant in a way as we are all connected, globally, online. According to Internet Globalization News, the increase rate of Facebook users internationally is 42.9%. It becomes more difficult for cultures to maintain their uniqueness when faced with the contagious spread of social media.
But we can use the internet to our advantage, not only globally but in Iowa specifically. According to Econsultancy, more than 80,000 websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than 60 million Facebook users engage with it across these external sites each month. This is an extraordinary opportunity for Iowans to use this technology to spread information about celebrations such as Juneteenth and make sure its relevancy is maintained. This is so important because Juneteenth is not just about the emancipation, it is so much bigger than that. The events and history unique to each state helps weave the fabric of our country. Juneteenth shows how cultures have clashed and how we have moved past it. The history and legacy of the anti‐slave trade in Iowa is something to be celebrated both on its own, and in conjunction with the world.
As we become generations more distant from important historical events, we run the risk of the tangible and relatable facets being lost. The technology available today has a way to reconnect the past with the present unlike ever before.
