Juneteenth marks the day documented in African American history when the very last enslaved Africans in America were finally informed of the Emancipation Proclamation which liberated them from the peculiar institution of slavery, two and a half years after the fact. This Juneteenth, we celebrate and reflect on the significant moments of liberation for Americans of African descent and of Africans around the world.
We celebrate the freeing of African slaves in the United States between January 1, 1863 and June 19, 1865.
We celebrate the liberation of Haiti from French colonial rule in 1804.
We celebrate the freeing of African slaves in the Caribbean and Latin America, the last of which happened in Brazil in 1888.
We celebrate the liberation of African slaves in Zanzibar in 1897.
We celebrate the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954.
We celebrate the liberation of Tanganyika from British colonial rule in 1961 and Zanzibar in 1963.
We celebrate the liberation of Rwanda from Belgian colonial rule and Uganda from British colonial rule in 1962.
We celebrate the liberation of Kenya from British colonial rule in 1963.
We celebrate the liberation of all African and Afro-diasporic countries from colonial rule, the last of which was Antigua and Barbuda, which achieved liberation in 1981.
We celebrate the end of racial apartheid in South Africa in 1994.
We celebrate the liberation of the African world over the past 200+ years.
However, we mourn the loss of Maasai autonomy and sovereignty with the independence of Tanganyika and Kenya.
We mourn the intertribal conflict set in motion by the Belgian colonial regime which resulted in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
We mourn the austerity measures put in place by the Global North to punish former colonies and keep them perpetually indebted to and enslaved by global financial institutions.
We mourn the 21st-Century versions of settler colonialism threatening livelihoods and natural environments in Africa.
We mourn the continued anti-Black racism and attacks on black life by law enforcement and other racist institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world.
We reflect on the events and achievements worth celebrating, the continued change needed to bring justice to our communities, and the priceless importance of protest as a means to achieve that change.
For those of you who travel with us and support us, we appreciate your continued commitment to increasing justice for people and the environment in East Africa. You can visit the moving monument to the East African slave trade depicted in the photo above in Zanzibar and other sites of historical significance to African liberation, as well as ongoing sites of struggle for racial justice and Indigenous rights on our specialized tours that promote cross-cultural awareness and support local communities.