Juneteenth. A Day of History, Pride and Cultural Identity

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June 2022

Juneteenth.

A Day of History, Pride and Cultural Identity. page 6

“Embrace Your Community”

V I E WPO I N T "If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny."Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader June is a month of celebration and remembrance. Our ancestors withstood pain and grief so that the next generation could be free. The word freedom means many things to different people. When I look at our community today we are still fighting for our fundamental freedom.

In the past, our ancestors fought for equality, the removal of shackles, and the right to make their own choices.

They wanted to control what happened to them, their families, their bodies, and their future. Today, we are fighting for fundamental rights for women to

control our bodies and be who they are, despite what society thinks. This fight can be another way of putting shackles on women despite their ethnic background. White men decided what slaves would be able to do and now they are in the process of making the same decisions on a different topic. They have no right to control anyone. I’m coming down from my soapbox. We have moved from the real shackles but we are still fighting for our freedom and basic rights. As the saying goes as things change, the more they stay the same.

As Juneteenth is celebrated this year, I will be thinking of our ancestor's fight for freedom so I can stand free. But we still have a fight.

We are working to keep the symbolic shackles off but it is not easy.

Celebrate the freedom of our past, while ensuring our freedom today.

Embrace Your Community Damita Miller-Shanklin Editor-in-Chief Damita@ujimamagazine.com

Ujima Magazine is a free news publication. For Advertising Opportunities email UjimaMagazine@gmail.com

Where To Celebrate June 19 Sources: GEAYA, Visit Austin Juneteenth is a family affair.

Families come together to eat, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. We are sharing some ideas on where you might celebrate: Juneteeth Parade 2022 The parade will be held on June 18 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Location: Britton, Durst, Howard, Spence Bldg. (Chestnut House) 1183 Chestnut Avenue, Austin, Texas 78702. To review the parade route, go to https://www.juneteenthcentralte xas.com/parade.

Juneteenth Rhythm and Ribs Festival Lakeview Pavilion at Old Settlers Park (Round Rock) This free, family-friendly event features specialty food and retail

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vendors, a great music lineup including Grammy award winners Eric Bellinger and Montell Jordan, and more. roundrocktexas.gov Juneteenth Open Market St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church (Pflugerville) The Juneteenth Open Market is celebrating Black creators from Austin and surrounding areas.

Noir Creators Space will host a total of 40 local black-owned businesses offering but not limited to food and beverage, hair care and beauty, wellness products, educational tools, and more.

Noircreatorsspace.com Be safe and have fun as you attend the events in your community.

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BEAUTY AND LIFESTYLE

The KNOCKOUT

By Jacquie ooh Johnson, Contributing Writer

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hat happens when life knocks you out? Do you stay down for the count, or do you get up and get back into the ring?

This past week we had an issue in our family that hit us like a Mack truck! We did not know what had happened. We were totally blindsided. And let me tell you when things like this happen it is like you were just punched in the stomach and knocked the breath out of you, literally. I read a quote once from Vince Lombardi that said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”

Listen, I had to make a conscious decision to not let this situation take me out. I choose to get up before the count was up and kept moving forward. As long as we live life, we will have challenges that will knock us out, but the key is to not stay out. Pick yourself back up and keep going. I know that can be easier said than done because I was once that person who stayed down.

I didn't want to get back up, I just wanted to wallow in it! Boy times have changed. I can totally see growth and maturity on my part.

Just like when this issue popped up, I was wobbly for a moment, but I got my balance back, got back up, and got back in the ring.

I realized that I was the only one who could change how I reacted to this situation and move forward. At once I profoundly understood that if I just shifted my mindset a little I had so many more choices than I initially thought. And this is the beautiful thing. We all have these choices. In every moment. We all have the control to change how we feel about any given situation. I understood that only I could UjimaMagazine.com

focus, by looking forward again and focusing on the next step in life, I instantly saw sunlight bursting through the clouds.

So, when you’re feeling knocked down, ask yourself, what is my focus right now? Am I focusing on something I want or something I don’t want? Am I seeing the opportunities or only the obstacles?

What am I looking at? change my outlook and move forward.

How was I able to make the mind shift? By following these three simple small steps: Held myself accountable.

Don't always make excuses. What do I mean by that? Be conscious of those times when you were making excuses. Examples. Relationships didn't work out? It’s your responsibility. Not doing the job you want? Well, it’s your responsibility.

Feeling unhealthy and tired? You guessed it, it’s your responsibility.

Don’t judge yourself, yet simply ask what you could have done to get different results. Hold yourself accountable and take action on what you’ve learned. Taking responsibility means you allow yourself to be vulnerable and open.

Move your focus.

Don't focus on the obstacles in every situation rather than the opportunities. I’d been looking behind me at what had happened rather than looking in front of me at what could happen. Once I realized that everything changed.

Because the thing is, what we focus on is what we move forward, it becomes our reality. Remember what you think you become. I had to stop thinking of the negative that happened. By changing my

Change how you speak to yourself.

The last thing I realized was that I had to change how I spoke to myself. Yes, I’d had a few knockouts, however, I could choose how I was going to deal with the situation, and there were times when I choose to see the negative outcome instead of the positive.

That had to stop. Just like choosing where we place our focus, the language we use is also something we have full control over. When we take responsibility for our lives, shift our focus, and change the way we talk to ourselves we take back control of our experiences.

Change takes a second, getting to the point where you’re ready to change is what can take a little longer—but with the right steps, it can happen a lot more quickly.

Contributing Writer-Jacquie Johnson Jacquie Johnson is the creator of the Glow Collection by Jacquie ooh, an organic skincare line. She is the founder of Jacquie ooh an online resource hub for women. She is also a new author to two books: Glow Through It 21 Day Devotional Journal for Women and Dare to Sparkle Entrepreneur Startup Guide+Dream Big 4 Day Devotional.

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She Speaks Wellness:

Leave Your Waterpot Behind "It must happen to us all ... We pack up what we've learned so far and leave the familiar behind. No fun, that shearing separation, but somewhere within, we must dimly know that saying goodbye to safety brings the only security we'll ever know. - Author: Richard Bach Most of us are at a stage of life where small things no longer matter. Every lesson learned, encounters made, milestones reached, and life moves on. At times we hang on to attachments - people, things, and emotions that are no longer profitable, losing our connection with God. We find ourselves at a crossroads.

Do we keep the status quo or go? Your decision comes with consequences.

In John 4: 4-30, The woman at the well gives us insight. She lived in a time of racial, class, and gender divide. Every day, she would walk the same path and routine as she journeyed to the well with her waterpot. Does this sound familiar. Can you imagine carrying your weighted waterpot with minor issues?

Jesus connected, confronted, and challenged her. She learned the truth about herself; his love and acceptance; responded to what He had expected and was forever changed.

You have carried your waterpot long enough. What people, things, and emotions do you need to let go of?

Proverbs 3:5- 6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways submit to him."

God reminds us to move in His

will, order, and timing continually. Leave your waterpot behind!

Minister Sonya Hosey, Founder Iron Sharpens Iron – 4MySisters Network #SheSpeaksWelness Ironsharpensiron4mysisters.com

Remembering Our Fathers

By Damita Miller-Shanklin Happy Father’s Day to all the great fathers in the world.

Fathers are the force behind our mothers. Some fathers do not get the praise they deserve. My father has been gone since 1993 and I miss him very much.

So, celebrate Father’s Day by telling your father you love and appreciate him for all he has done for you.

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Feature Story

JUNETEENTH. A Day of History, Pride and Cultural Identity.

By Damita MIller-Shanklin Sources: NHPR, Golden West College

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.” - Maj. Gen. Granger, Order No. 3

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he celebration of June 19th was something I heard about at an early age. Better known as Juneteenth, I did not get the full understanding until I was older. But the feeling I got right away was this was a celebration that had a huge meaning to our cultural identity. It was a family time of sharing the day and enjoying being free. This feeling of freedom was not just said, it was the action that was taken every year to remember. This UjimaMagazine.com

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celebration was Have you ever about slavery and stopped to think the journey of about hearing It’s hard to our ancestors this imagine how they being told they proclamation must have felt. are free and and Happy, confused, how that understanding scared, and not sure the word sentence made Black people “free?” It’s hard they heard it everywhere free. to imagine how correctly.

Juneteenth has a they must have felt. history and pride that Happy, confused, Black people are connected to scared, and not sure they and understand this one day is heard it correctly. Juneteenth historic and formed our culture and how we navigate life.

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honors the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States.

The name Juneteenth is a blend of two words June and 19th. It's believed to be the oldest African American holiday, with annual celebrations on June 19 in different parts of the country, dating back to 1866. In addition to recognizing the end of slavery, many take the day to celebrate the African American culture. We all remember the history of President Abraham Lincoln, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It proclaimed that all persons held as slaves in the rebelling Confederate states are henceforward, shall be free. This came almost three years into the Civil War. However, enslaved people weren't automatically free by Lincoln’s pen, as it couldn't be implemented in places still

under a conflict of once a popular drink Confederate control. Despite associated with celebrating the proclamation, slavery the day. continued in Texas, in the • There is a Juneteenth Flag of westernmost Confederate Freedom. It is half red and states on April 19, 1865. half blue with a star in the Confederate middle. Each year a General R E. Lee Juneteenth Flag surrendered to raising ceremony Union General is held in It’s believed to Ulysses S Galveston. be the oldest Grant, African American making the So I ask what holiday with annual end of the does celebrations dating Juneteenth war between the North and back to 1866. mean to you the South. today? Personally, this holiday is very There are fun facts meaningful and about Juneteenth you may important to me. I feel close to be interested in. our ancestors and I feel • It is the oldest known holiday connected to my history, that commemorates the end being proud of my blackness of slavery in the US. and my culture.

• Juneteenth is the title of a book by author Ralph Ellison.

Happy Juneteenth and stay Other books by Carolyn proud of your history and Meyer and Ann Rinaldi also make sure your legacy moves center around the day. forward. There are people who • Some cities and groups have want to remove our history as Miss Juneteenth contests. if it didn’t happen but we can’t • Strawberry soda pop was allow that to happen.

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“I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free.... [S]uch persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States... And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God...”

- Abraham Lincoln

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active LIVING Travis and Williamson County are reporting an increase in the number of patients with Covid.

Stay informed.

cdc.gov

• • • •

Just like adults, children and teens can: • Get very sick from COVID-19 • Have both short- and long-term health problems • Spread COVID-19 to others, including at home and school

Those without underlying medical conditions can also experience severe illness. In fact, almost half of children younger than 18 years old hospitalized with COVID-19 have no underlying conditions.

There is no way to tell in advance how children or teens will be affected by COVID-19. However, those with underlying medical conditions or who have a weakened immune system are more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19. Some examples of conditions that can make children more likely to get severe COVID-19 to include:

Read the data about risk factors for severe COVID-19 in childrenexternal icon published in Pediatrics, childhood COVID19-related hospitalizations published in MMWR, and weekly summaries of COVID-19 hospitalization data through COVID-NET.

Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Teens

Mary Linnen Editor

Here is a tip for storing fresh lemons!!

Asthma or chronic lung disease Diabetes Obesity Sickle cell disease

As is the case with most fruits, Anina von Haeften, cofounder of the food delivery service Farm to the People, recommends storing lemons in the refrigerator.

“You can keep them on the counter but they won't last as long and will start to dry out,” she explains. “On the counter, they will last about a week and in the fridge, they can last up to a month.” When keeping lemons in the fridge, von Haeften says to pop them into a sealed airtight container, which will help them stay juicier and keep their moisture longer.

Courtesy of www.marthastewart.com

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Summer Fruit Chopped Salad

Ways for You to Celebrate the Longest Day of the Year

Courtesy of Layers of Happiness

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he summer solstice is the day with the longest period of daylight, which is why it is often called the longest day of the year. During the month of June, the solstice occurs when the sun reaches its highest and northernmost point in the sky.

Today, in many countries around the world midsummer festivals are celebrated on the summer solstice. Other ways the solstice is celebrated include talks given by astronomers, concerts, and ceremonies at certain locations.

Celebrating the beginning of summer can be easy and fun! Here are some suggestions!

On warm summer days, a chopped salad is my meal of choice. They’re light, fresh, and filling!

No heat in the kitchen, that’s pretty much all I need on a hot, summer day.

The beauty of a chopped salad is that there really aren’t any rules. You can pretty much add whatever you want!

• Meditate - Grab a yoga mat and take a moment for yourself to relax and meditate. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to help you get started if you haven’t done meditation before.

• Go for a swim - The summer solstice is the first official day of summer! That makes it the perfect time for a pool day. Hang out in the pool, teach your child to swim, or even get some exercise in.

• Exercise outside - Tired of your home gym?

Switch up the scenery by exercising outdoors. Go for a walk around your neighborhood, learn how to transition from your treadmill to running outdoors, or do some resistance band exercises in your backyard.

Enjoy your day!!

Summer Solstice and the First Day of Summer is June 21, 2022.

A summer chopped salad is like summer on a fork! and it blows any ol’ garden salad totally out of the water.

My choice of ingredients are mixed greens, chopped chicken, feta cheese, sliced red onions, walnuts, chopped avocado, strawberries sliced, and grapes sliced.

The dressing is also your choice and it only takes a little. The fruit gives the salad a burst of flavor. I toss the chicken, all the greens and cheese, and nuts. Add the fruit, avocado, and dressing for one last toss.

Enjoy!!

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