Poet Amanda Gorman celebrates the gift of Blackness for Juneteenth

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/17/ [login to see] /poet-amanda-gorman-reflects-on-what-lies-beneath-the-celebrations-of-juneteenth
Growing up in Los Angeles, Amanda Gorman's family would mark Juneteenth by going to an African American history museum or celebrating and reflecting with her church and community.

For the second year, the U.S. government on Sunday will observe the holiday, which marks the effective end of chattel slavery following the U.S. Civil War. Gorman, the first national youth poet laureate, wonders how that federal recognition will change celebrations.

"African Americans and also communities beyond that have been celebrating Juneteenth for generations without it being federalized ... it wasn't something that we need permission to look at," the first national youth poet laureate said in an interview on NPR's Morning Edition ahead of Sunday's holiday. "We are celebrating African American liberty, but a liberty that has typically come delayed, a liberty that was not promised but something that we continuously have to fight for ... including today."