By J. Patrick Coolican | Editor-in-chief
Good morning, Reformers.
Happy Juneteenth, when America celebrates the liberation of enslaved people with the arrival of federal troops in Galveston, Texas — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. They were there to enforce General Order No. 3.
The Spokesman-Recorder has your comprehensive list of commemorations across the state.
The past 18 months have offered fresh evidence that the project of freedom and equality is always under threat from the forces of reaction and repression.
Here’s a piece of Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me”:
“here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.”
Click this link to hear her read it.
Some Reformer offerings today:
Patricia Mutebi poses for a portrait while setting up her new gallery show at The Residency by Modern Day Me in downtown Minneapolis Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Nicole Neri
Her initial call for collaborators turned up about 35 participants. As federal agents started to flood the streets during Operation Metro Surge, half of the portrait subjects dropped out.
Mutebi remembers guiding participants to the photography space, not wanting to leave anyone wandering in the open for a minute longer than necessary….
Mutebi, who was born in Uganda before attending school in Kenya and then the U.S., carryied her own immigration papers on a lanyard around her neck.
“I was terrified, of course,” Mutebi said “But I felt it as an obligation to to show this work.”
By The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“But we must see that the struggle today is much more difficult. It’s more difficult today because we are struggling now for genuine equality, and it’s much easier to integrate a lunch counter than it is to guarantee a livable income and a good, solid job. It’s much easier to guarantee the right to vote than it is to guarantee the right to live in sanitary, decent housing conditions. It is much easier to integrate a public park than it is to make genuine quality integrated education a reality.”
By James Weldon Johnson
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
IN OTHER NEWS
Feds again drop charges against Minnesota ICE protester, who has harrowing tale of abuse, too | New York Times gift link
Iran delays nuclear talks with US as Lebanon clashes worsen | Bloomberg gift link
Trump admits surrender | JVL in The Bulwark
The dumbest war in American history | John Ganz
OH BY THE WAY
A song for today, Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today.”
Have a great Juneteenth and a nice weekend! JPC
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