Oh, Happy Day! Let the Church Say...

Hell yeah, I’m writing an entire blog post dedicated to Juneteenth. What better way to show off my black intellect? What better way to express being black and proud? Such a humble brag, indeed. Now, being black and all, I had a few approaches in mind because being black and all, this can go many different ways.

First and foremost, thank you, Dr. Opal Lee, for walking two and a half miles in different cities across the United States of America, from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to unite black voices so that we, along with our ancestors, can be honored and acknowledged on this day. Thank you, Dr. Opal Lee, for walking two and a half miles in different cities to represent the two-and-a-half-year gap between the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth. Thank you, Dr. Opal Lee, for standing with us, for us, and not letting us black faces forget the black bodies who came before us.

Now, Happy Juneteenth! Today is just one day that we take the time to celebrate, acknowledge, and pay homage to African American lives. Though the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, slaves in Texas still were not free due to the lack of enforcement. On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War, officially freeing over 250,000 enslaved African Americans.

Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. Again, Happy Juneteenth! Happy Black Independence Day! Happy Freedom Day! Happy Day of Jubilee!

Onward, there will be a heavy usage of African American Vernacular English, AKA AAVE. First black lesson, AAVE is not the same as slang and is definitely not broken English; it is simply its own dialect with its own pronunciation. For example, if I’m chilling in my space and my partner comes out of the room, I might say, “Hey, bae, bring the remote here”. Aside from the grammatical structure of the sentence itself, bae is a common and often used term that is considered AAVE. One of my favorites, finna, cause “ain’t nobody gone tell me what I’m finna do”.

My all-time favorite, the one I use every single day intentionally and unintentionally, ight or aight, it rolls off the tongue so smooth. How does it taste? It’s aight. How was your day? It was aight.

How are you doing? I’m aight. Now, careful, I am in no way, shape, or form telling you how to use AAVE. African and black Americans do not need a lesson in AAVE because it isn’t anything that needs to be taught, only made aware of. Therefore, keep your mouth off of AAVE if you do not define as thee!

With that being said, I know I look good, I know I sound good, I know everything I do is appealing, but that doesn’t make it yours for the taking. Blackness is not a uniform. Blackness is not a badge. Blackness is not a filing system. Blackness is not your jar filled with sticky notes that have random date ideas written down on them. Blackness is not your favorite pair of pumps that emphasize your legs when you want attention on a night out.

Blackness is not your favorite shade of red lipstick to stain glass cups with, so you can mark your territory. Blackness is not your liquid courage for when you decide you want to be seen, heard, or to stand up to the masses. It is not your go-to look for when you want to appear better than you ever have before. I know blackness is a good look; it is the look. However, in the US of A, about 14% of us can’t help our looks.

Though black is a race and race is a social construct, it is a very wide umbrella consisting of many ethnicities. Blackness is culture, heritage, tradition, history, and language that defines our ethnicities. When I speak regarding my blackness, I am speaking as a West African American born woman raised in Down-South Georgia. That alone tells you my nationality, ethnicity, race, and background. Chile, minority who?

In the words of Daniel Kaluuya, “What’s minor about that? I’m major, bro.” Dumbing down my blackness will never be a thing. Playing small for the masses will never happen. One time for the one time, for James Brown, say it loud, I’m black, and I’m proud. I love my black race and my black face.

I cherish my black beauty and my black brain. James West, an African American, co-invented the microphone in 1962. As you press play on your favorite podcast or attempt to create your content to become the next viral overnight sensation, make sure you pay your dues to James West. As you even gaze at your PC monitor to see the visuals in color, you just make sure you put some respect on Mark Dean’s name, an African American engineer of IBM. The next time you change your ex’s name to something shady to prevent you from answering their call, be sure to thank Dr. Shirley Jackson for paving the way in conducting extensive research that led to the discovery of telecommunications technology, which powers Caller ID.

The next time you are sitting at a red light, go ahead and thank Black Jesus for Garrett Morgan, who patented the T-shaped traffic signal in 1923, solidifying automated systems used to manage our intersections, known as the traffic light. Honey, Black is gold. Black is wealth.

Like, really, have you ever been around some real Black joy? Black joy is a loud noise that echoes. Black joy intervenes and interrupts because it turns heads. Black is not attention-seeking; it’s naturally a head turner. Black doesn’t have to try; it just is.

Black joy is infectious. It spreads wherever it is until it fills the room. Black is the heart; Black is the pulse of America. Look around, pay closer attention, listen a little harder, and appreciate what has been given to you. Appreciate what has been done for you.

Black America is America, and America is home. When I look around, I see a bunch of comfortable bodies who did not help build my home. I see a bunch of homebodies who don’t give a rat’s ass about my black body, just rather take up space in my home like I’m nobody. But in the words of the late great, Jesse Jackson, I am somebody!

Let the church say, amen.