"The lies you Tell!"...(My Juneteenth Day Open Letter)
I keep hearing the words that “tearing open a wound doesn’t help it heal”... Well that is not always true. Because there is this thing called debridement; the removal of damaged tissue and or foreign objects from within a wound. It’s a daunting procedure carried out expertly and under controlled atmosphere whereby the scabbed and diseased tissue is surgically cut away and removed. This procedure allows for the new circulation of blood, and the wound's eventual healing. And a good "debridement" is just the surgery that Juneteenth Day exposes- a festering wound in need of a cleansing.
Nations around the world have attempted this "treatment" in ridding their countries, and governments of the lasting effects upon its people by dealing with their historical atrocities against humanity by establishing "Truth and Reconciliation Commissions." Founded in South Africa in 1995, its mandate was discovering and revealing past wrong doings by a government, with the hopes of resolving conflict left over from the past. Over the past three decades, more than 40 countries (like Canada,) have established Truth Commissions. These commissions have worked in other countries because their leaders understood their importance, and the long term effects of unresolved "historic injustices!"
In the middle of a national reckoning on race, some advocates are wondering: why not here? .. well....because this is the United States of Amerikkka!! Out of 50 states, {with a great portion having a history in slave trade, and crimes against humanity,} only two commissions have been attempted and ultimately dismantled; and neither dealt with the reality and atrocities of slavery! (I guess the truth really does hurt)
🚩The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (non-governmental and mainly formed by private and local donations 2004–2006) investigated the Greensboro Massacre, where CWP protested for social and economic justice and against the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), when a nine-vehicle convoy containing 37 members of the KKK and the American Nazis massacred five and wounded 10. Without the government involvement, the Comissioners had no legal authority, they had no power to subpoena, no way to impose a punishment. All they could do was "listen" to what people said happened... And it was in the "listening" and in the "being heard" that a balm for their pain was being applied.
🚩The other instance was the Maine Wabanaki-State Truth and Reconciliation Commission (formed February 12th 2012) to look back on the 1978 child welfare issues, which resulted in the Indian Child Welfare Act. This mandate was to find truth, healing and change by giving the Wabanaki people and others involved within the Maine Child Welfare System a place to voice their stories and experiences. Ahhh... "changing systems and giving people a voice".. now, that's a real notion for a country whose exterior reflects a "clean clothes on the outside, and dirty underwear beneath" reality.
How long will we continue to get dressed and go out to greet the world looking like the poster children for "goals," but carrying the message of our colonized ancestors that "what goes on at home, stays at home"... our dysfunction amazes me. This is truly the era of "reach one, teach one" for the African-American citizen, who finds their Juneteenth Day filled with edifying the under- educated, and untying the delusional. Our mantle is great, our history is thick, rich, and heavy... And maybe, just maybe for once, we just want to be heard! There are no magical time machines, and no anti-slavery elixirs in our society's pharmaceutical repertoire.. but how about a humanitarian commission on listening? Because after all it just might lead to healing, redirection and unity..(it's a thought 😏)
~"A man who feeds himself lies, is not only malnourished, but he's also emaciated."
~Amber Rogers