The founders of theUnited Statesincluded freedom of the press in the first amendment because they understood that a people cannot truly be free if they don’t have accurate information about what’s going on in their world. With no access to accurate news and information, 19^thCentury African Americans inGalveston,Texasthought they were still slaves, though legally they had been freed. In the 21^stCentury we have unprecedented access to tell our own stories, connect and learn from each other, and the ability to change the present and record history as it happens.

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Juneteenth, the Media & History in the Making

There was no Internet in 1865. No email, no text messaging. No radio or television. The telephone wouldn’t be invented until 1876.

The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect January 1, 1863, and the Civil War ended April 9, 1865, but the slaves inGalveston,Texasdidn’t learn that they were free until June 19, 1865 when Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived and told them the news.

Even though information in the 21^stCentury moves at the speed of light, many people have never heard ofJuneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the end of chattel slavery in theUnited Statesand freedom for African-Americans. 28 states recognize Juneteenth as either an official state holiday or as a state holiday observance.

So how come so few people – including most African-Americans – have never heard of it? In a world of 24-hour news cycles where most of us have information at our finger tips, it’s hard to believe that such an important day in American history could be overlooked. 

Nothing is more vital to a free society than the free flow of information, and a constant spotlight has shone on the role of media during this election year. The mainstream news outlets have been criticized for the way they have framed the political debate. Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has called the media “complicit enablers” for not pressing the Bush Administration harder during the run-up to the Iraq War. 

There is more media than ever beyond the mainstream, with blogs, vlogs, iReporters, MTV Street Teamers, and more each offering a different perspective. But media is important not only as a means of transmitting information in the present tense. Media records “the first draft of history,” and future generations will look to the newspapers, videotapes, photos, blogs and other documents that we use to inform each other as a way to gain a better understanding of our society.

The 1^stAnnual Juneteenth celebration at The Woodward restaurant on June 18 and the 10^thAnnual Allied Media Conference on June 20-22 atWayneStateUniversity, both inDetroit, illustrate the connection between history and the recording of “history in the making”: 

Organized by 25 year-old hip hop artist/activist Khary WAE Frazier ofGeneralPopulation.org, community activist Njia Kai and Woodward restaurant owner William Cartwright, the Juneteenth program featured music, art, dance, storytelling and a strong dose of history. The keynote address was delivered by historian Paul Lee, a noted essayist and filmmaker, renowned for his work on Spike Lee’s filmMalcolm Xand for his uncompromising research on African and African-American history. 

During his address, Paul Lee lectured the audience about the obligation that present generations have to pass on accurate history to future generations. “…History can and is many things, but it is and could never be DEAD. It is a LIVING force that the living, upon reaching maturity, must consciously shepherd to promote the future of the living.  When they fail to do so, they become mere driftwood and allow history to wash away their children and the yet born.”

Now in its tenth year, the Allied Media Conference (AMC) stresses the importance of alternative media in the movement for a more just world. The conference emphasizes media as a means of communication and as a way for communities and individuals to tell their own stories and write their own histories.

According to the AMC website,www.alliedmediaconference.org, the founders organize the conference

Because media should be a tool for transformation and not a commodity to passively consume; because political change requires open and active networks of communication; because our stories have been misrepresented, misinterpreted, and straight up missing from corporate media: we gather to share skills, strategize, and build the media system we envision and that our movements for justice demand.

The three-day, youth oriented conference focuses much of its attention on the creation and disseminate of media with a purpose. Participants attend workshops like “Be the Web: Using Web 2.0 Innovations to Organize and Connect”, “The 5th Element: Party Promotion as an Organizing Tool”, “Strategic Framing and Messaging”, “Street Art 101”, and “Social Justice and Zine-making”.

The founders of theUnited Statesincluded freedom of the press in the first amendment because they understood that a people cannot truly be free if they don’t have accurate information about what’s going on in their world. With no access to accurate news and information, 19^thCentury African Americans inGalveston,Texasthought they were still slaves, though legally they had been freed. In the 21^stCentury we have unprecedented access to tell our own stories, connect and learn from each other, and the ability to change the present and record history as it happens.