Why It Was Hard For Me To Stop Celebrating The Fourth of July
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Growing up, Fourth of July, was one of my favorite holidays.
We were not a patriotic family. We weren’t anti-patriotic, but we were not patriotic. We didn’t talk about the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, or even freedom when Independence Day rolled around. There were no flags anywhere around our home. We talked about these things in school, but it stopped there.
What I liked about the Fourth of July was the festivities. Every year, when I was a child, we would drive into the country for a big, juicy watermelon and discount fireworks from under a tent.
My favorites were the sparklers I held in my hand for as long as I could and the pop-its that you threw on the ground as hard as you could until they made the POP sound.
I also got a Fourth of July fit which was always a variation of red, white, and blue, and I got my hair done! It was bliss. Whenever I think of the Fourth of July, it was definitely a highlight of my childhood.
Naturally — it was hard for me to stop celebrating Independence Day.
Unfortunately, I didn’t learn about Juneteenth until around a decade ago.
On my own, I started learning about and celebrating the tradition. I even found local festivities, as more and more events started happening.
https://rosalynmorris.medium.com/juneteenth-sweet-tooth-93af832d1ff8
I stopped celebrating Independence Day because of Juneteenth, and the fact that after 400 years, Black people in America still are not free.
When Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, I knew I would never celebrate the Fourth of July again.
The Fourth of July seems more like a mockery than anything else when all people are not treated equally or given the same access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
