Lizzo asks ‘So what are we gonna do for Juneteenth y’all?’ in honor of day Emancipation Proclamation was read to slaves in Texas
Lizzo fired up her Tik Tok and Insta Stories to post a video asking her fans: ‘So what are we gonna do for Juneteenth, y’all?’
She was referring to the holiday marking June 19, 1965, when the Emancipation Proclamation was read to Texan slaves after the South lost the Civil War.
The 32-year-old pop star, who is herself from Texas, made an informational string of social media clips to tell her followers about the commemoration.
Incoming holiday: Lizzo fired up her Tik Tok and Insta Stories to post a video asking her fans: ‘So what are we gonna do for Juneteenth, y’all?’
She appeared onscreen with the Wikipedia entry for Juneteenth edited in as her backdrop and said: ‘What’s Juneteenth you ask?’
Quoting from Wikipedia she said: ‘Juneteenth, it is “also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day and Cel-Liberation Day. It is an American Holiday” – American holiday! – “celebrated on June 19th.”‘
Lizzo shared: ‘It’s something that, you know, we celebrated down in Texas – as you know, I grew up in Houston, and it’s a black holiday.’
Paraphrasing a section of the Wikipedia entry that materialized behind her, Lizzo explained that ‘also it’s actually considered one of the longest-running African American holidays, a.k.a. America’s Second Independence Day because they took a f***ing long time telling the slaves in Texas that they was free.’
American history: She was referring to the holiday marking June 19, 1965, when the Emancipation Proclamation was read to Texan slaves after the South lost the Civil War
Educating her followers: The 32-year-old pop star, who is herself from Texas, made an informational string of social media clips to tell her followers about the commemoration
She went on: ‘But you know what? We’re free now, so how are we gonna celebrate this, and all of this beautiful blackness that’s been going on and all of the love and positivity that we’ve been spreading?’
Lizzo concluded by asking her nearly nine million followers: ‘How are we gonna celebrate Juneteenth as a nation? I am bringing the red Kool-Aid.’
The Truth Hurts singer has been vocal in support of the Black Lives Matter movement as protests and riots sprang up nationwide over the killing of George Floyd.
Although U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on New Year’s Day 1963, he had not yet won the Civil War at that point.
Personal connection: Lizzo shared: ‘It’s something that, you know, we celebrated down in Texas – as you know, I grew up in Houston, and it’s a black holiday’
Looking back: She noted that Juneteenth is ‘a.k.a. America’s Second Independence Day because they took a f***ing long time telling the slaves in Texas that they was free’
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1965 at Appomattox Courthouse.
Union General Gordon Granger eventually read the Emancipation Proclamation to Texan slaves on June 19th that year, announcing to them that they were free.
Texan slaves were the last in the former Confederacy to be read the Emancipation Proclamation, months after Lincoln’s assassination.
National unity: Lizzo concluded by asking her nearly nine million followers: ‘How are we gonna celebrate Juneteenth as a nation? I am bringing the red Kool-Aid’