Celebrating Juneteenth Together: in the Name of LOVE
June 19, 2021
Welcome to a June Junetenth
- aka a brand new federal holiday where we can come together to celebrate progress, and the end of formalized slavery in the United States.
This date we celebrate for another realm of freedom, of liberty, and in my opinion opportune human flourishing.
I believe humans were designed to fly freely and openly, without boundaries or borders described by country, political, or other idealogical divides.
Today I’m sharing but just a brief message of reflection on today’s holiday and some history behind my own personal journey to where I am today and the lens I see the world at large.
With love and gratitude for your readership, thank you for being here and let’s dive right in…
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I believe we are better together than ever alone or against.
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They say if you want to go fast in life go alone, if you want to go far, go together.
I don’t know about you but I’d prefer to go together and go far together in this life. It’s a lonely place if we don’t that’s for sure.
And as we celebrate Juneteenth we can’t also help but think about Father’s day just right around the corner, quite literally tomorrow the is.
And for those of you with strong family bonds I encourage you to definitely reach out to your dads this weekend and honestly any time you get the chance. If you’re instead someone like me who never had a formal relationship to a father or specific father figure in life then my heart goes out to your this weekend.
I encourage you to not feel upset or ashamed, guilty or afraid of living life without a bona-fide father figure.
I believe there are several bona-fide father figures or at least notable individuals throughout history for whom we can glean some father-figure wisdom from as we piece together our jig-saw puzzle of a picture imperfect impression of what fatherhood can look like.
For instance, for me - take it for what its worth - but I was always drawn in by the Bill Cosby Show. I know he’s got quite a different track record nowadays but at the time and displayed on the show….
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He was a solid guy, a loving husband and a charismatic happy go lucky father who hardly raised his voice if not to tell a joke.
Those eyes, those smirks.. oh those facial expressions he used to exaggerate the obscene emotions of the scene.
Another common father figure of the time of my childhood included Andy Griffith, yup - that Andy Griffith from the black and white television show with Aunt B and Ope and Don Knotts as Barney 5.
Andy was also a solid dude I tended to glean some father figure wisdom from. He was always teaching some sort of moral of the story if you will, he was persistent, diligent, and had a grand smile he could cast as well.
He was like a gentle fit giant if you will. He wore the sheriff uniform that also made him seem more respectable and honorable as well.
Next up, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
No, I’m serious.
“Oh give me a break Jonathan, you cannot be serious here… how could you on earth see MLK Jr as a father figure. You’re about as white as white can be, blond hair blue eyes and you see this black historical figure as one of your father figures.. do co opt another culture’s relevance.”
And I get what you might be thinking I do, but hear me out.
In first grade, I had seen only a handful of males pass through my life, none of them stayed. At the time, I didn’t know anything different.
Only as I got older did I realize there was different.
During my first book report project ever, I was handed a book about Martin Luther King Jr. and that moment right there set forth a very profound journey for me exploring my values, identity and the kind of human I wanted to be.
I then went on to read more books in later grades about Martin Luther King Jr and also his predecessors such as Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Jesus Christ.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace - 1969 - by Lillie Patterson
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr - 1998 - edited by Clayborne Carson
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And from that early age in my life I learned that it wasn’t just me that lived a different life without a dad, there was a whole host of cultures and communities that were pigeonholed to live different lives. It broke my heart hearing some of the stories of separation and segregation as well as the difficult times Martin walked through in his life.
As an adult now, I still carry these early values with me today - at least I believe I do. To be love and to pursue love in the world is one of Martin’s greatest rallying cries for us as a human culture, beyond race or color or religion or political divides. 👏
Today, The King Center still holds his hopes today with a proud proclamation for its readers and audience to “Be Love”
To be love in the world, to express it between one another and also act in love, hold on to love, live and listen with love… these are all reputable tasks that we need to consider daily and internalize into our actual nature as humans in my opinion. 💯
Galatians 5:14:
”For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Sometimes it can be easy to forget, and quick to jump to under or frustration, but to be the Andy Griffith or the Bill Cosby, or even the MLK Jr. - that takes a bit more of a humble attitude and one I will always and forever strive to express in my own life.
Be Love in whatever ways you can.
In the little moments for your family.
In the larger moments for your work and community. In the necessary ways for yourself as well. Take care of yourself and also your heart. 💕
“Where there is love, there is life“ - Mahatma Gandhi emphasis mine
And as it relates to our hearts, next week we’ll dive into some hot topic heart health hints and tips to improve your heart health, even with just a few seconds a day. Some of these techniques might surprise you and I bet you haven’t heard some of these ever before!
Nitric oxide, vagal stimulation, nostril breathing anyone 😏 🤔 💭