Guest Columnist: Lisa Myers Bulmash, James Baldwin, and the quest for Independence

Last 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 the 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, followed by Eliana West, an author and founder of Writers for Diversity.

Next up is Lisa Myers Bulmash, a mixed media artist who spotlights history, culture, and “the contradictory narratives in American society that marginalize the most vulnerable.” Her work is currently on display at Wa Na Wari, in Seattle’s historic Central district, and at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Here are her words, taken from her website (with her permission!).

Make this happen: Let’s turn Independence Day into James Baldwin Day, and spend that time calling America on its unfulfilled promises.

Much of the United States finally seems interested in learning how to be anti-racist, or at least interested in books about it. Why not keep the momentum going? Let’s have a federally-recognized holiday when Americans evaluate their anti-racist growth and make concrete plans and policy changes that would help us do even better. Think of it as love in action.

We’d also be honoring author James Baldwin’s lifelong dedication to holding this country accountable for its racism. It seems right that we follow up on the nationwide protests against police brutality by using Baldwin’s searing criticism as an action guide.

Don’t worry — we’ll still party for Freedom-with-a-capital-F with flags and hot dogs and raisin-free potato salad. We’ll just do it on Juneteenth — a celebration of actual enslaved people leaving bondage.

Check out Lisa’s original post (with photos) here.

Connect with Lisa:

Website: lisamb.com Facebook: Lisa Myers Bulmash: Mixed Media Artist Instragram: @_lisa_mb_