庆祝六月节

2022年6月14日

As Colorado prepares to celebrate 六月节 as an official state holiday for the first time, I want to take a moment to reflect on the enduring importance of this day.

Metropolitan State University of 丹佛 will be closed June 20, an official University holiday we established after the state legislature passed 参议院第139号法案 creating the state holiday last month. I’m thrilled by the widespread recognition of this consequential day, which has been an important celebration for many Black Americans for decades.

丹佛’s 六月节 celebrations date to the 1950s in the Five Points neighborhood. 罗素·诺尔斯, the first Black chair of 密歇根州立大学丹佛’s 校董会, 今年注意到, “This holiday has been celebrated in Black communities for years, and 丹佛 has one of the largest 六月节 celebrations in the country. So this is a holiday that’s been around for a long, long time.”

六月节 commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that the last enslaved Black people were freed by federal troops in Texas, 2½ years after 总统 Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. As June 19 falls on a Sunday this year, we are observing the holiday Monday, and I encourage you to think about the significance of this celebration this weekend.

That lengthy interval between the formal end of slavery and the practical end years later resonates with me and can teach us a lot about injustice and inequity today. Author Clint Smith detailed the legacy of 六月节 in his 2021 book “话语是如何传递的,” which examines how the story of American slavery is presented in various places around the country and world.

“(六月节) is a reminder that each day this country must consciously make a decision to move toward freedom for all of its citizens, and that this is something that must be done proactively; it will not happen on its own,史密斯写道. “自由的计划, 六月节提醒了皇冠官网网站, 是不稳定的, and we should regularly remind ourselves how many people who came before us never got to experience it, and how many people there are still waiting.”

American chattel slavery ended more than 150 years ago, but it endured for some 250 years before that and shaped our country as we know it. Its effects are still seen today in the form of wealth inequality, 不同的健康结果, academic-attainment gaps and more. As we look back on this historic holiday, let us remember that there is more to do and actively work toward truly fulfilling the freedoms established on 六月节 so long ago.

最后, I want to thank the 密歇根州立大学丹佛 students who testified in favor of the bill through the student organization B l a c x e r a. Advocacy is critical to creating change. University leaders supported passage of the bill as well, and our trustees unanimously issued a 决议 也支持SB 139. As the University that educates the most Black students in the state, 密歇根州立大学丹佛 has an important role in serving Black Coloradans and will continue to work toward providing the best academic experience possible for its students.

真诚地,

珍妮·戴维森博士.D.
总统