An important day to celebrate: Juneteenth. I offer two excellent things to read, the first one short and the other one a book, a short and eminently readable book:
1. Peniel Joseph (of UT Austin's History Dept.), "The Story We’ve Been Told About Juneteenth Is Wrong," TEXAS MONTHLY (June 2023), available at https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/real-history-of-juneteenth-messier/utm_source=texasmonthly.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sharebutton
2. Annette Gordon-Reed, ON JUNETEENTH (W.W. Norton, 2021).
I strongly recommend both to everybody for reading prior to June 19th!
-Josiah Daniel