Freedom And Liberation

It's Juneteenth. We need both.

I did not grow up in this country or take American History classes. I was in law school before I realized that I did not know nuthin’ about nuthin’. In fact, now reviewing these laws and history, helps me so much more now than it did then. So let us have a history lesson – mostly for me, of course! Ha.

The Three Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution.

January 1: 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation declared that Americans enslaved in states that were in rebellion against the United States “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons.” Since the proclamation was limited, and because it depended on a Union military victory, President Lincoln recognized that it would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment to abolish the enslavement of human bodies who happened to be Black.

February 1, 1865: The 13th Amendment signed, two years later, abolished enslavement. It provided that ”Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Freedom from enslavement!!! About time!! In 1807, the British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act which ended the buying and selling of enslaved people within the British Empire, but it did not protect or free those already enslaved. Supposedly, the British gradually ended slavery throughout its empire in the 1830s.  But there was still an illegal transatlantic slave trade until the 1860s.

February 1, 1868: The 14th Amendment increased the liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to former slaves.

Free from enslavement, but three years later, formerly enslaved folks were given rights like freedom of speech, press, and religion. Wow. That was not included in “not being a slave?” Duh.

February 3, 1870: 15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote.

Oh, you could be a “not slave,” have freedom of speech, press, and religion,” but you were not a citizen so you could not vote.

Ummm, how do I put this delicately? Have you ever spoken to someone who is disenfranchised from voting? Meaning a person on parole or probation who cannot vote because of a crime they were still paying for?

Voting, having a basic say-so in who your leadership is, and having a voice as part of the society you live in, is about human dignity. It is equivalency. So, folks were “free,” but they did not have any other freedoms, including the freedom to vote – what kind of freedom is that?

The Juneteenth Part

On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the U.S. Army reached Galveston, Texas, and informed the people of Texas, of Order No. 3 which contained the following statements:

“In accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.” 

“The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

You are free but behave yourselves. Y’all hear now????

Today marks 158 years since the last enslaved African Americans were notified of their freedom in Texas in 1865, almost two and a half years after they were granted freedom. Look at the pictures in this article and see the dignity of humans and their progeny who were granted freedom from enslavement.

Make no mistake about it. Juneteenth may be a celebration, but it is also a lament. It is the lament of lies and cheating and betrayal that Black folk were free for two and a half years and their “owners” decided to keep that information from them. And they still had to wait until they were granted additional freedoms such as voting.

Words Matter

If you look up the definitions and etymologies of the words, “freedom” and “liberation,” they almost sound alike and interchangeable.

However, for social justice work, I find it helpful to separate the two out as I believe they are two different things.

Juneteenth is a good day to explore the difference between these two words.

Freedom From…

In my work, I describe freedom as requiring the interaction of other people or the systems around you. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendments were laws that gave Black people “freedom from slavery.” It had to be accorded to Black people. It was not naturally in the air. Other people shape and inform our freedoms. “The Other” has the power.

Take it away from the domain of race and look at women. Women were not free to have a checking account without their husband’s name on it until 1974 - IN MY LIFETIME!!!!  This was when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed, and it granted women in the US the” right” to open a bank account on their own.

It gave them the “freedom” from the previous laws that did not allow them to open their own bank account. It was about a law changing the system.

The Emancipation Proclamation and the ensuing Juneteenth date were about freedom.

Liberation To...

However, liberation is the ability to embody the freedom granted so you can do something.

Not all free people know they are free.

Liberation is an inside job. It is the work you must do to connect with that internal power so you can act in and on the freedom that society accords you. It is better to enjoy your liberation with other liberated people around you for you to enjoy the benefits of liberation. But it is not necessary.

Sometimes you can be so damaged from a lack of freedom that it is almost impossible to embrace liberation. Think about the proverbial

·      Freedom from constraints.

·      Liberation to be all that your sacred soul was designed to be.

We always need each other. We need each other to ensure our freedoms are fair, just, and shared. And our liberation thrives in the presence of those who practice, embrace, and embody their own liberation and those around them.

We need both.

It is not an either/or job. It is a both/and.

And I still don’t know too many Black folks that are truly free. There may be laws that make folk free, but there are societal unspoken laws that continue to constrain, limit, and exclude.

Example

Freedom from discrimination is the Crown Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) being enacted in 18 states, but liberation is a Black woman going to a job interview with Bantu knots in her hair, acing the job interview, getting the job and doing a fantastic job regardless of her hairstyle. She is in all authentic glory.

Yet, 80% of Black women in the workplace agree with the statement that “I have to change my hair from its natural state to fit in at the office.” That ain’t freedom nor liberation, y’all.

A couple of challenging questions for you

Where can you contribute to the expand the freedom of others in your orbit? If you are a white person, your white-skinned privilege accords you certain privileges. Can you graciously grant relational permissions to others that don’t share your privileges? Meaning, “Do folks of color know that they can be themselves around you?” Have you noticed that some folks who do not look like you do not share the same liberation to act and behave as freely as you do?

For those of us that are the global majority, are we aware of how we constrain our own freedoms? Who are those in our liberation orbits?

Leave a comment and please share. I do want to hear from you. What got your attention in this post?