What is Juneteenth you ask? Well, for starters, it’s not something that I was taught about growing up, nor was it in my school textbooks, and no one celebrated it in my community. It was something I was ignorant to and have had to educate myself about. So if you’re asking the same, the fact that you’re wanting to know more is a step in the right direction. Education is everything. I’ll do my best to try to give a brief explanation.
Also known as Freedom Day, Juneteenth (short for June 19th) is an important day in the history of the United States. President Lincoln declared in the Emancipation Proclamation that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the states would be freed – but not all slaves were freed! However, as there were few Union soldiers in Texas, the message that the war had ended and that slaves were free didn’t arrive there until nearly two and a half years later. On June 19th, 1865, the end of slavery was enforced. In celebration of Juneteenth, traditions continue to include today church services, rodeos, fishing, barbeques, and baseball. It’s a day to focus on education and self-improvement while learning from stories of the elders.
As most schools aren’t in session in June, you can’t expect your school to educate your child about this important day in history. Therefore, I’m passing along a mixture of Juneteenth resources in Spanish and English that you can share with your child from high school to elementary/preschool age and guide them in how to show reverence to this day.
Bilingual Juneteenth Resources For Older Kids
There are a few options for how your child could interact with the next 3 articles after reading them.
- Discuss as a family.
- Take notes on the different perspectives and facts in the articles through a triple venn diagram chart.
- Create their own video or social media post about a most surprising fact they learned.
This article ¿Qué es Juneteenth? is an informative read for older students with an advanced level of Spanish, but it also includes a very well done informative video in English to aid in understanding if needed.
This Argentinian newspaper article Qué es el Juneteenth y por qué se celebra offers a different perspective and adds in some extra interesting facts. One of those facts that surprised me was that a group of ex-slaves bought a piece of land in Texas together and use it to celebrate Juneteenth every year.
To add yet another interesting twist, here’s an article on Why This Mexican Village Celebrates Juneteenth explaining the cultural/familial connection between Texas and Mexico.
Bilingual Juneteenth Resources For Younger Kids
If you’re looking for ideas and activities for how to educate your children and model for them how to have reverence for this day, look no further. I’m passing along to you a 5-Day Lesson Plan with links to all resources needed. There are ideas here in English to capture the attention of the youngest to the oldest in your family whether it be through a book, song, map activity, to watching the popular show (and a fave of ours) Blackish.
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no extra cost to you. However, it is a financial blessing to my family when you do purchase directly through the links clicked on here and helps me keep bringing to you other wonderful free resources. ¡Gracias!
Celebremos Juneteenth: A wonderful tale in Spanish about a young girl who attends a Juneteenth celebration, a Texas tradition celebrating the end of slavery.
All the Colors We Are is not a book related directly to Juneteenth; however, it is a bilingual book about understanding why we as humans have different skin colors and is written in perfect language for children to understand. I’ve been wanting to share this book with you for so long! I absolutely love that it’s bilingual as well. Definitely one to add to your bilingual book shelf as it teaches language, celebrates diversity, and equips your children with the language they need to have these conversations.
Let’s equip ourselves and future generations with knowledge and put an end to ignorance. Would you join me in recognizing Juneteenth this year and share this post with others?
