Juneteenth is therapy.
Juneteenth since its inception as a holiday continues to evolve and serves as a collective therapy for the Black community experts and community leaders say.The attire was formal, men wore trousers and women wore dresses. This wasn’t their original attire. This was the clothing of their former masters. They traded in their tattered garb that was weaved with threads of enslavement and bondage for the Victorian wardrobe an expression of their freedom.
“It gives Black folks the opportunity to identify with something, so we’re celebrating Black Folks freedom from slavery, all be it we were set free years after. For a lot of Black folks that is enough is to move the needle on something,” Taylor Watson declared.The importance is using Juneteenth as a foundation, “a platform to recognize that and then celebrate identity and then to use those conversations to discuss how we can continue to progress,” Taylor-Watson continued.
Juneteenth, the holiday that is also during Black Music Month, should be looked at as a self-care and wellness day but with an emphasis on intentional community connection.