{"id":6636,"date":"2024-06-13T20:30:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T20:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/translash.org\/?p=6636"},"modified":"2026-03-19T23:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:03:41","slug":"trans-affirming-juneteenth-a-translash-guide","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/translash.org\/resources\/trans-affirming-juneteenth-a-translash-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Trans-Affirming Juneteenth: A TransLash Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Juneteenth<\/strong><\/a>, a federal holiday celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the \u201cending\u201d of slavery in the U.S., is a time to unpack the intersection of Juneteenth and <\/strong>Pride Month<\/strong><\/a>. Explore our trans-affirming guide to Juneteenth below; we will be updating it annually, so <\/strong>let us know what you think<\/strong><\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Cobbie Cobb and Daniela \u201cDani\u201d Capistrano for TransLash Media<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFighting for liberation \u2014 dismantling systems of oppression \u2014 matters most in my life and influences how I show up for my people and for myself in very intentional ways. Freedom, release, joy, peace, and contentment are things that we as Black folks have been robbed of for so many years, so focusing on liberation has become my life’s work.\u201d – <\/strong>Dominique Morgan<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many resources that exist about the history and legacy of Juneteenth<\/a>, but very few of them center Black trans lives. And while we at TransLash declare that there would be no Pride Month without Juneteenth, we are certainly not the first people to say it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominique Morgan<\/a>, a Black trans woman and award-winning artist, activist, and TEDx speaker, wrote about her experiences of incarceration and why intersectionality and liberation of all Black people are crucial aspects of commemorating June 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, back in 2023, Karen Hewitt<\/a> (Ze\/Hir\/She\/Her), a Black queer and genderfluid musician, poet, and activist, shared<\/a> that \u201cJune is about Civil Rights\u2026Pride month could not exist as we know it if Juneteenth did not happen<\/strong>. It all comes together as we recognize that the most vulnerable of any group is generally the Black, Indigenous, and other members of color of this group.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by Morgan and Hewitt, we created this guide to center Black trans voices during Pride Month, while we explain why there would be no Pride Month without Juneteenth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready? Let\u2019s get into it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Juneteenth?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900 held in “East Woods” on East 24th Street in Austin. Credit: Austin History Center.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to The Greenlining Institute<\/a>, Juneteenth is a time to remember that our collective liberation must be intersectional. On Juneteenth National Independence Day<\/a>, we celebrate Black people\u2019s ongoing<\/em> freedom from enslavement, and our evolving vision of freedom that White America could not see for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juneteenth is not a victory celebration<\/a>, but a recognition<\/em> of the diverse, multi-ethnic and multicultural Black communities all around the country who are descendants of enslaved people, and the legacies of their ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Debra Gore-Mann (she\/her\/hers), President & CEO of The Greenlining Institute, so eloquently put it: when America only saw Black people as slaves, Black people made unseen things come true. This is what Juneteenth represents: a day of delayed emancipation a full two years after Abraham Lincoln\u2019s Emancipation Proclamation<\/a> had \u201cfreed\u201d all enslaved people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Museum of African American History & Culture has documented<\/a> that on \u201cFreedom\u2019s Eve,\u201d the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free Black people gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. 
At the stroke of midnight, all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally<\/em> free. Union soldiers, many of whom were Black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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