The day serves as a reminder that while chattel slavery was abolished, a new form continues in the U.S. prison system.
In the early 2000s, prisoners atin Walla Walla decided to hold a Juneteenth celebration. Because the Department of Corrections, or DOC, didn’t treat the day as special, Black prisoners used the category of “African American Cultural Event” as a platform to celebrate Juneteenth. The spirit of liberation moved through the incarcerated population, motivating other prison facilities across the state to follow suit.
One memorable moment for me came in June 2012. The Black Prisoners Caucus was hosting the event, which had not happened since 2007, and a friend and I were asked to perform a few songs. It was my first vocal performance, and I was extremely nervous. When we finished, my friend’s 7-year-old daughter shouted from the audience, “Daddy, they killed it!” Though I didn’t have any family present at the event, that little girl’s endorsement etched a long-lasting smile on my heart.
Prisoners aren’t the only people who understand the injustice. For several decades, activists and academics have developed an analysis called “Thirteentherism,” which argues that the 13th Amendment created constitutional protection for the brutal convict-leasing system that former Confederate states created after Reconstruction and which evolved into today’s system of racialized mass incarceration.
One of my closest friends, who asked to remain anonymous, also comes to mind. He was sentenced to 170 years in prison after his white friend shot a man during an altercation. Although his friend admitted to being the gunman, this prisoner remains incarcerated while his white friend was released after serving seven years.As Black men in prison, we live the tension between celebrating the abolition of slavery and struggling inside the criminal justice system that replaced slavery.
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