I once worked for a company that didn’t celebrate or acknowledge Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or César Chávez Day. Mike, the guy who owned the property the brewery sat on, however, had his own holiday that we got off. This always perturbed me—the concept that a wealthy business owner celebrated his wealthy landlord while being unconcerned with historical leaders who helped empower others.
As a moderately educated 35-year-old who likes to pat himself on the back for his progressive ideals, I was even more disturbed when I discovered my total lack of awareness of Juneteenth: a holiday that originated in Texas, where slaves were informed in 1865—two years after the Emancipation Proclamation—that they were free, and a day that many use to celebrate the end of slavery in America.
I feel betrayed by the authority figures I had growing up who never included this in the lesson plan. More so, I’m furious at myself. I never made the time to find out about it on my own, despite knowing that I was not being told the whole truth.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is one of the most radical unions in the country, with a long history of support for progressive causes. It regularly organizes marches and protests to raise awareness of issues it deems injustices. You won’t hear much about the union in school, but where there are marginalized people letting their voices be heard, you will find its members.
Yesterday the ILWU shut down ports along the entire West Coast of the United States, and marched in the streets of Oakland, California. Standing between old-timers in their local union chapter jackets and tattooed young anarchists, I wondered how many kids will never be told about what happened in 2020. Hopefully we can be loud enough.
Words + Photoby Tim Decker