Everyone loves celebrating a federal holiday, don't they?
People love to gather in backyards and kitchen tables enjoying family and friends. Favorite nostalgic music from childhood, teenage years, and their wild twenties will be blasting in the background. Food is shared and cold beverages of choice are being drunk. The bar-b-que is being manned by the one known to throw down on the grill. Steaks, chicken, burgers, ribs, and hotdogs are filling the entire area with the promising smell of something delicious. In a corner here or there is a group of people loudly playing a card game of Spades or Dominoes, with people vying to be the champ.
The first outside federal holiday, Memorial Day, celebrated in May, with the cleaning off and firing up the grill has passed. The grocery stores were filled with people buying the choicest of meats to be put on the grill. The stores (Dollar tree) were filled with people buying all of the paper and foam plates along with plastic silverware. The grocery store shelves were being emptied. Mustard, ketchup, pickles, and mayonnaise filled the grocery carts. The choice meats to put on the grill were constantly being restocked. The lines in the stores were long, but people remained in good spirits in line knowing it was for the cause of celebrating.
People really prepare for the biggest outdoor celebration, the 4th of July. People wear their red, white, and blue patriotic clothing. American flags fly high and are waved from the hands of every color of Americans. Backyards are filled with family and friends. On this day, people may begin celebrating in the daytime and continue on into the night. Because as soon as it is dark enough, the fireworks begin. The 4th of July is only second to Christmas in how elaborate the celebration can be.
Even Easter is celebrated with fanfare and anticipation for months. People are busy searching to find the perfect Easter dress or Easter suit to wear for the day. Children join in on the fun of this day too. They know the Easter bunny is going to hide Easter eggs filled with candy or money, nowadays, for them to find. Back in the day when I was a child, the eggs were over boiled eggs with a dark green ring around the outside of the yolk. People head out to church in their finery and would show up to gatherings still dressed to the nines. Women who normally did not wear hats would have a fine hat perched on top of their head. The fanfare of Easter has even been captured in a song. Yes, this holiday has its own song along with Christmas and the 4th of July. The song "Easter Parade" by Irving Berlin includes the lyrics, "Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet and of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade." The song was published in 1933 and is about the New York City's upper class who would attend Easter services on Fifth Avenue and show off their new spring outfits. The song also references the tradition of wearing new clothes at Easter, which symbolizes the renewal of the year and spiritual redemption.
I was today years old when I found out Juneteenth is a federal holiday. The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. Juneteenth became the first federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983. Three years after it was made a federal holiday, Juneteenth 2024 marks a day of celebration and education. The federal holiday known as "Second Independence Day," marks the day the last African American slaves were notified they had been freed from their masters. My question is, "Where is the big celebrations, cookouts, parades, fireworks and festive songs for these two holidays and do people other than those who work in banks and post offices even take off for the day?"
Federal holidays are paid days off for federal government workers. There are 11 federal holidays as legislated in 5 U.S. Code 6103.
- New Year’s Day: January 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Third Monday of January
- President’s Day (George Washington’s Birthday): Third Monday of February
- Memorial Day: Last Monday in May
- Juneteenth: June 19
- Independence Day: July 4
- Labor Day: First Monday in September
- Indigenous Peoples’ Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Second Monday in October
- Veterans Day: November 11
- Thanksgiving Day: Fourth Thursday in November
- Christmas Day: December 25
THERE YOU HAVE IT! Juneteenth is a federal day allowing for the celebration of the nation for the second Independence Day of American citizens. So, where are the celebrations by the nation?
I often wondered where the jubilation is on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is a somber, almost a sad kind of day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is usually celebrated with marches and parades and with speeches by civil rights leaders and politicians. Individuals and organization also undertake volunteer efforts in support of what is often called MLK Day of Service. WHY? Where is the music, food, selected clothes for the day, large scale parades with fun for the kids, the smell of bar-b-que and laughter? People are not using their day off from WORK to go do some WORK. It should be a day of celebration and yes, you can have fun and at the same time celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King. Come on! We celebrate the 4th of July knowing thousands of people died fighting for the freedom of the county. We don't have a long face or somber attitude on that holiday. Why does Martin Luther King Day seem so morbid? I watch the late-night news and see people dressed in clothes they don't care about getting dirty, picking up trash in parks. Nothing about the day seems like a celebration. It's almost like it is wrong to be joyous on that day. The Black community should go all out from happiness celebrating what Dr. King secured for Black Americans. Children should see us recognizing with joy and anticipation for the first holiday recognizing the Black citizens of America. Our gloomy attitude on the day, passes down gloom to our children. Because it's such a lack-luster holiday, people prefer to go to work. We need to do better when it comes to this holiday. With politicians fighting to have selected history taught in schools, little known holidays like Juneteenth need to become a bigger PUBLIC celebration. What do people do on Juneteenth? Many states and cities plan festivities to mark Juneteenth, which is often celebrated with parades, street parties, and cookouts. The day as a historic one for American history, civil rights activists say, and memorializing it reaffirms the country's quest for equality.
Easter is a day Christians celebrate remembering the death of Jesus and his resurrection. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus in a lowly manger. Each of these holidays could be seen as a somber occasion and not a time to be joyous. But they are holidays we look forward to celebrating and celebrating with others. Children are told fantastic stories on each of these days about a fat man bringing them gifts while they sleep and a large bunny hoping around to give them all of the candy, they can possibly eat without getting into trouble. Heck. Halloween is more festive than MLK Day and Juneteenth. You would think it was a federal holiday with the nation joining in on the cheerful day of dead people roaming the earth. I look forward to seeing the trick-or-treaters and their costumes on the nightly news. There is FUN to be had by all ages of people. It's a whimsical day allowing for creativity to flourish in the costumes people had planned for months.True, Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth are newer celebrated national holidays and have the potential to change as the years go by. But what is wrong with having good, safe, fun? I know people say the entire country don't give a flip about the two holidays and they are BLACK holidays. White people will never celebrate them with large scale parades and fun. I am not going to get into a debate about this. What I will say, people like to have a reason to celebrate, get together for a good time. Nothing about the two holidays, in my opinion say, "Come on over. We have the grill fired up and so and so is coming over too. Bring the kids. They will enjoy what we have planned for them. Bring your own fireworks so we can have a lot of them to enjoy."
The few events in my area are small and boring.
YES! I said it. They are
BORING! I know I am an adult and should not need to shake my booty every chance I get. I should be able to sit for an hour, listening to a prestigious person recount the struggle of African Americans. I prefer to have a celebration of the Black people. Having a grand old time demonstrating their happiness in where they started from in the country until now. They should save their money through the year ensuring they will have the biggest and best bar-b-que of the year on these holidays. They should wear elaborate clothes, they don't even have to give or be a nod to Africa, but what a
WOW time to see people dressed in ancestral clothing in their own stylish way. There should be a song made about the clothes worn on Juneteenth because Black people went from wearing dirty rags to top designers if they so choose.
STRUT your stuff for this day outdoing each other.
Black people know how to party and party they should. When a holiday is looked forward to with anticipation, it stays on the mind. Planning and preparing for the holiday becomes a family affair. Children should be allowed to do something fun which is normally restricted the rest of the year. Let them wake up looking forward to celebrating the holiday and making lasting memories.
You may ask what do I do on these holidays. The answer is nothing. I understand the importance of doing service for others, but I'm just not that into to it and I know that is one of the main reasons why it is done on MLK Day. He served the people. But I don't get excited about the day. I would like for there to be elaborate celebrations for these holidays to rival the Pride Parades and Mardi Gras.
Juneteenth, a federal holiday is approaching, and many people do not even know about it let alone it is a federal holiday. The store won't be crowded with people shopping for food and decorations to delight invited guest. The local news will make mention of a few events here and there happening in the community, but large-scale celebrations have not caught on yet. I do try to put a little outdoor decoration up I find in the Dollar Tree which is recently added during the month of June. But there is not a contagious air of celebration as the holiday approaches. The reader may be thinking, "Well, why don't you do a celebration for the holiday." It just doesn't feel holidayee to me. I'm hoping our baby holidays of MLK Day and Juneteenth become two of Americas most looked forward to holidays. But right now, they are just a little blip on the holiday calendar.
