Guest Columnist: Eliana West discusses keeping Black history alive through storytelling

Earlier this month, Congress approved, and President Biden signed into law, legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday to be commemorated on June 19th.

While the Emancipation Proclamation is taught in schools, in many areas, Juneteenth is not. Neither is Critical Race Theory, which spotlights the history of racism and bias in our country. There’s a battle being fought in many states to ban changing the current U.S. History curriculum to include the history of racism and bias. The education organization Chalkbeat has compiled a map of states pushing legislation to ban the teaching of critical race theory in schools, as well as a map of states actively working to expand the education of these topics.

I’m familiar with the history of Juneteenth, Critical Race Theory, and the need to stop whitewashing U.S. history curriculum our schools, but I don’t feel qualified to write about it.  So, I reached out to friends who are.

Seattle media personality and social justice advocate Terry Hollimon was the first guest columnist to share his views.

Next up is Eliana West.

Eliana a wife, mother, author, and founder of Writers for Diversity, a community for writers who are interested in creating diverse characters and world.

Here are her words.

The tradition of oral storytelling has always been an important part of my life. It’s interesting seeing all the social media posts with people discovering history that for them, is newly discovered. But I have to say; I keep shaking my head in wonderment because these are stories I have heard since childhood. 

For me Juneteenth is about honoring the ancestors who whispered these stories from generation to generation, preserving them so we can now amplify through the many forms of media we have today. 

Writing contemporary romance may be an unusual medium for teaching history. But, with each book I write, I have the privilege of sharing part of my family’s history, through a genre that inspires hope.
I will be forever grateful to the aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents for every time they would kneel down or pull me into their lap and share… 

“Did you know there used to be Black folks who had whole towns, and they owned businesses and had nice houses?”
Seneca Village and Black Wall Street.

“Did you know Black folks were millionaires?”
Jeremiah Hamilton and Madam CJ Walker.

“Did you know our people weren’t free after the war?”
Juneteenth.

These stories were whispered in our churches, porches, living rooms, and around our kitchen tables. 

As I celebrate Juneteenth, I celebrate the power of the story.

Connect with Eliana via her website, on Facebook: Eliana West Author Writers for Diversity, and on Instagram: @elianawestbooks