SEATTLE -- Juneteenth National Independence Day is now an official holiday, after President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday, approved by both the US Senate and House of Representatives.

Also known as Black Emancipation Day, Liberation Day and Jubilee Day, it's celebrated on June 19, which marks the anniversary of an historical celebration of emancipation which started in Galveston, Texas when news that enslaved people had been freed by President Abraham Lincoln reached the Black community, almost two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Many states have already designated the holiday, and momentum for the legislation followed the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year.

Enforcement of the liberation of Black people was slow, and accompanied the advance of Union troops. The Proclamation only outlawed human slavery in the Confederate states, it took the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to end enslavement elsewhere.

Akilah Wallace, member of the Black Southern Women's Leadership Project and executive director of Faith in Texas, said true liberation for Black Americans has yet to be achieved.

"When we're still faced with mass incarceration, police brutality, white supremacy within every system and fiber of this nation, we still have a fight to take on," Wallace asserted.

This year, multiple states have approved bills that limit voting opportunities in Black communities, and passed legislation prohibiting schools from teaching about the country's legacy of racism.

Kevin L. Matthews II, founder of BuildingBread, said in an interview with YES! Media he shared those concerns. Matthews is an author and an expert on the Tulsa massacre of what was then called Black Wall Street. He's also a former financial advisor.

"Any time that people of color in this country have significant progress, there is almost always a swift reaction from those who are still in power or those who benefited from oppressing others," Matthews observed.

Tim Wise also spoke with YES! Media. An author and anti-racism educator, Wise wrote "White Like Me," and "Dispatches from the Race War." He said his own family tree revealed slave owners, who handed down documents that showed their lack of compassion when writing about the buying and selling of enslaved people.

"And I think we need to grapple with that, because we may not literally pass down human beings anymore, thank God, but we pass down the mentality that made the selling of human beings possible," Wise contended.

President Joe Biden's approval makes Juneteenth the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King, Junior Day in 1983.

Georgia's young people could shift the political landscape of the state in the near future.

New data from the Brookings Institution indicates that millennials and Generation Z make up the largest generation and tend to favor the Democratic Party.

Michael Hais, former vice president of the research-based consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates, believes this generation's diversity could be the driving force behind changes in politics over the next few years.

"Those under 45 are very distinctively different in their demographic composition, their partisanship, their political attitudes, and their media usage than voters who are over 45, who are primarily members of Generation X, the Baby Boom generation, and the Silent Generation," Hais outlined.

Research also revealed millennials and 'Gen Z' will make up the majority of potential voters by 2028, and they will represent more than 60% of potential U.S. voters by 2036. It also highlighted if Democrats do not run campaigns focusing on younger voters, they could jeopardize the allegiance of the growing majority.

Dakota Hall, executive director of the Alliance for Youth Action, said another shift is young voters demand significant change and will not settle for minimal reform.

"These are folks who went to high school and witnessed nothing but 'on' news coverage on their different social media feeds -- of Trump, of dysfunction, of government shutdowns and then a global pandemic," Hall pointed out. "They've seen the worst of what this country can be, and I think they want to push us forward."

According to research from the Alliance, a majority of young Democratic voters prioritize protecting abortion access and other key issues like democracy reform, voting rights, affordable health care, gun violence and climate change, while young Republicans are more concerned about the economy and inflation.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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Prison reform advocates in Minnesota continue to speak out following a lockdown at the correctional facility in Stillwater.

People incarcerated there want better conditions, and their supporters say systemic issues need to be addressed.

A coalition is now calling for two state offices to conduct an independent human rights investigation after those being held at Stillwater staged a peaceful protest earlier this month.

The issues include a lack of air conditioning during excessive heat and poor water quality.

David Boehnke, an organizer with the Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, said it adds to longstanding concerns across the correctional system.

"There's a pattern and practice here," said Boehnke, "and there's just a refusal to look at these types of inhuman conditions and create actual solutions."

Boehnke contended these individuals are having their rights violated while still being expected to perform the work they're ordered to do in carrying out their sentences.

He suggested treating them better can lead to better outcomes after they're released.

The Department of Corrections cites staffing issues for some of the concerns, and argues that some of the claims are false.

Advocates say while the prison population is their primary concern, Marvina Haynes - founder of the group Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform - pointed out that rough conditions can negatively affect correctional staff, too.

"Officers are working in inhumane conditions," said Haynes, "and it just causes a more stressful environment."

Haynes also has a brother incarcerated at Stillwater, and she says inmates have provided details of brown water inside the prison. That's one of the claims corrections administrators have said is false.

Meanwhile, the union representing corrections officers at Stillwater echoes concerns about operations at the facility.




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Grassroots voting rights groups in Alabama said they are delighted by a federal court decision to discard the state's proposed congressional maps for a second time.

United Women of Color and the Ordinary People Society, two of the organizations advocating for more fair representation for voters of color, are among those celebrating the move They see the decision as a necessary step toward achieving the goal.

Rodreshia Russaw, executive director of the Ordinary People Society, which is a member of the Alabama Election Protection Network, hopes it serves as an example for other states in the same fight.

"Our hope is that we will be a model state," Russaw asserted. "As is being seen now not only in Georgia, and also in Louisiana, for fair maps, for equitable maps."

The three-judge panel initially doubted the state's proposed map during the Aug. 14 hearing. Upon finding the map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the court instructed a special master and cartographer to redraw the maps by Sept. 25.

The court's decision sends a strong message on fair representation, but also places financial responsibility on Alabama taxpayers to bear the cost of hiring the special master.

Angela Curry, executive director of United Women of Color, said the court decision is encouraging but she has concerns about the implications for next year's primary elections.

"Either their one plan is to either delay until it affects the 2024 primaries and/or have it go back to the Supreme Court, in hopes that one of the conservative judges will change their vote," Curry observed.

As the redistricting process proceeds, both groups say it is more proof the work of advocating for fair representation of Black voters is not over. The state has appealed to the Supreme Court about the federal court's decision. A tentative hearing for objections has been scheduled for Oct. 3.


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