Why Trump can't stop this Juneteenth for Black Americans

[marmar]

Why Trump can’t stop this Juneteenth for Black Americans
For Black Americans, Juneteenth is a love letter to their history of resistance, including to the president

By Tatyana Tandanpolie
Staff Reporter
Published June 19, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) A conference room in the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Administrative Headquarters overlooks one of County Councilwoman Meredith Turner’s most prized views in downtown Cleveland. Through sparkling glass panes, she sees the Terminal Tower and the Progressive Field that houses Cleveland’s professional baseball team, the southbound lanes of Interstate 77 toward Akron beyond that, and just a little farther out, the remnants of a once-thriving steel industry where her late mother worked for close to four decades before her passing in 2021.

“I love to take meetings in that conference room because it reminds me of how far we’ve come, the sacrifices that my mother made in that steel mill every day to provide an opportunity for home ownership, to provide opportunities for education,” Turner told Salon, reflecting on the shoulders she’s stood on to become a first-generation college graduate and councilwoman.

“Juneteenth — what it means for me is that I’m my ancestors’ wildest dreams,” she said, pointing to her elected office. “It was the dreams of everyone that came before me. It was my grandmother’s dream. Maybe it was my mother’s dream. Maybe it was the hopes and aspirations (Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones) had for me. That’s what it means to me: the freedom to live out my life.”

This Juneteenth is the fifth since lawmakers voted to federally recognize the Southern holiday commemorating Black Texans’ freedom in 2021. In spite of the Trump administration moving to defund federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, attempting to hide and deny history across the country, and continuing to antagonize civil rights — alongside the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act — many Black people see this year’s Juneteenth as both a signal to recommit to resistance and a symbol of how important it is to celebrate Black history and culture.

”The importance of Juneteenth doesn’t rise or fall based on who occupies the White House,” Turner said, underscoring Juneteenth as an American story. “Administrations change, but history does not. If anything, the moment of political division that we’re in now reminds us why understanding our history matters more than ever.” .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/06/19/why-trump-cant-stop-this-juneteenth-for-black-americans/

[Tim S]

1. Yet he has Bill Pulte starting on this Federal holiday?