What does freedom mean today? Happy Juneteenth! For those not in the know, today commemorates when U.S. federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed – a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Since then, Juneteenth has been celebrated all over the country, especially in Texas and across the South, where Juneteenth parades, cookouts, festivals and pageants happen every year. Two weeks from now, the country will celebrate the Fourth of July – and its 250th anniversary. For many Black Americans, there’s always been a tension between these holidays – and their two different ideals for what it means to be free. As voting rights protections are rolled back and Black history is being scrubbed from government websites, what does freedom look like for Black Americans today? To get into it, Brittany is joined by <a href="https://www.wellesley.edu/people/kellie-carter-jackson"target="_blank" >Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson</a>, chair of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. For more episodes about the quality of Black life in America, check out:<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/nx-s1-5738465/jesse-jackson-the-end-of-the-civil-rights-superhero"target="_blank" >Jesse Jackson & the end of the civil rights superhero</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5565256/is-the-economy-slowing-ask-black-women"target="_blank" >Is the economy slowing? Ask Black women.</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/08/nx-s1-5848016/what-to-expect-when-youre-expecting-racism"target="_blank" >What to expect when you're expecting racism</a> Support Public Media.<a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" > Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" > @bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at<a href="http://npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" > npr.org/podclub</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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