What is Juneteenth? By Kirsti Jewel Peters f. This book will put young readers on a path toward reading to find answers to questions. Now that Juneteenth has become a national holiday, they (and many adults) will wonder why is it so important? Where did the word “Juneteenth” come from? How should we celebrate it? How does it figure in the history of the United States? This book will answer these questions and empower readers by letting them know that they are big enough to face hard, sad truths and to handle the emotions that these truths arouse. It also shows young readers that the struggles of the past, both through movements and through the valiance of historical figures confronting adversity, merit celebration and joy.
The book takes us from slavery to the adoption of Juneteenth as a national holiday. It is the kind of book which would be banned in Florida, where I live. I led a drive to buy all the books that were banned in my county for my congregation’s library. In my eighties, I have to dust off my activist credentials and get involved. Tomorrow at the meeting of the county Board of Education I will be protesting a group that that wants a flag saying, “Hate has no Home Here” taken out of a classroom because it is “too woke.” Next Sunday I am donating this book to our library.
