It’s Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached slaves in Galveston, Texas. To celebrate, Kimberly is lining up joyful movies about Black characters to watch this weekend. We’re also going to spend some time today reflecting on the decline of Black-owned businesses during this pandemic and a shameful history that’s not that far in our past. But first, Kai gives an update on the Navy’s USS Theodore Roosevelt’s former captain.
Here’s a list of some of the stuff we talked about today:
A primer on Juneteenth from the National Museum of African American History and Culture
“Navy upholds firing of carrier captain who warned of coronavirus” from Politico
“Covid-19 has destroyed 41% of Black small businesses” from Quartz
“‘Our Black Year’: One couple’s challenge to shop black-owned businesses” from Marketplace
“20 Joyful Black Movies You Can Stream This Juneteenth Weekend” from Collider
“An original ‘Juneteenth’ order found in the National Archives” from the Washington Post
Finally, we talk about the “free papers” that Kimberly’s dad bought at auction, which she inherited. They hang in her house, and you can see them in the image for this episode.