Our story
My spiritual intention today is to remember that all my decisions and actions affect others; help to create the tapestry of this moment. On this June 19, 1865 General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas that all slaves were free. This was 2 ½ years following the Emancipation Proclamation. In many places in the United States June 19 is now celebrated as Juneteenth, Freedom Day or Jubilee Day. Yet, neither the Emancipation Proclamation nor General Granger’s announcement freed most Caucasian citizens of the United States from the story they had told themselves about their black brothers and sisters or about who they were to and with each other. It is telling, of course, that not even the distorted, cruel story they told themselves halted the sexual and love relationships which, in reality, created a story which was shared at the most basic of levels. In some places in the United States the alleged percentage of black blood determined whether one was to be a free Caucasian or someone whose story was intended to enrich or validate the story many of us Caucasians wanted and to this day continue to want to tell ourselves. History books all too often, validate the “white man’s story”. The story of the courage, faith, creativity, and strength of those who were not and are not considered Caucasian is increasingly available for those who have the courage and the humility to hear it. Yet, there will be a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma today; not to mourn and remember those black citizens who were murdered ad whose homes were burnt May 31 and June 1, 1921 but to celebrate policies which often seem to me to promote exclusion, hatred, and division. If any of the reports are accurate thousands will write another chapter in the history of Tulsa, Oklahoma and this nation.
My last two years of high school were spent at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I do not recall one mention of the mistreatment of Native Americans, the Tulsa massacre, Jim Crow Laws, or the laws restricting the rights of females, gay, lesbian, bisexual or Transgender folks, white male privilege or any of the stories which would shape the stories of most of us graduating from Will Rogers High School would continue to create. The one high school reunion I attended a few years ago did not acknowledge the effect of those stories on our stories.
It is my responsibility to know the commissions and omission which have shaped my story; to educate myself and, thus, change the story I create today and the days to follow. It is my responsibility to join those who are inviting me and others to strive to learn and tell a more honest story; to strive to avoid the trap of self-indulgent self-pity or self-flagellation; to learn a more accurate story and build a new story
The story of this nation is one of fear, courage, beauty, ugliness, cruelty, strength and love. It is us to us to separate the wheat from the chaff and to move forward to create a story with in fact celebrates the reality that “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men (people) are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Written June 19, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
My spiritual intention today is to remember that all my decisions and actions affect others; help to create the tapestry of this moment. On this June 19, 1865 General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas that all slaves were free. This was 2 ½ years following the Emancipation Proclamation. In many places in the United States June 19 is now celebrated as Juneteenth, Freedom Day or Jubilee Day. Yet, neither the Emancipation Proclamation nor General Granger’s announcement freed most Caucasian citizens of the United States from the story they had told themselves about their black brothers and sisters or about who they were to and with each other. It is telling, of course, that not even the distorted, cruel story they told themselves halted the sexual and love relationships which, in reality, created a story which was shared at the most basic of levels. In some places in the United States the alleged percentage of black blood determined whether one was to be a free Caucasian or someone whose story was intended to enrich or validate the story many of us Caucasians wanted and to this day continue to want to tell ourselves. History books all too often, validate the “white man’s story”. The story of the courage, faith, creativity, and strength of those who were not and are not considered Caucasian is increasingly available for those who have the courage and the humility to hear it. Yet, there will be a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma today; not to mourn and remember those black citizens who were murdered ad whose homes were burnt May 31 and June 1, 1921 but to celebrate policies which often seem to me to promote exclusion, hatred, and division. If any of the reports are accurate thousands will write another chapter in the history of Tulsa, Oklahoma and this nation.
My last two years of high school were spent at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I do not recall one mention of the mistreatment of Native Americans, the Tulsa massacre, Jim Crow Laws, or the laws restricting the rights of females, gay, lesbian, bisexual or Transgender folks, white male privilege or any of the stories which would shape the stories of most of us graduating from Will Rogers High School would continue to create. The one high school reunion I attended a few years ago did not acknowledge the effect of those stories on our stories.
It is my responsibility to know the commissions and omission which have shaped my story; to educate myself and, thus, change the story I create today and the days to follow. It is my responsibility to join those who are inviting me and others to strive to learn and tell a more honest story; to strive to avoid the trap of self-indulgent self-pity or self-flagellation; to learn a more accurate story and build a new story
The story of this nation is one of fear, courage, beauty, ugliness, cruelty, strength and love. It is us to us to separate the wheat from the chaff and to move forward to create a story with in fact celebrates the reality that “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men (people) are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Written June 19, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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