Juneteenth!
On June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the enslaved peoples of Galveston Texas were freed. That day became known as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021 President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday. To explain what Juneteenth is and what it means to America, L. Joy brings noted scholars Chaédria LaBouvier, Dr. Melanye Price, and Dr. Melynda J. Price to the front of the class. Then, L. Joy has a special Juneteenth treat for the class-the incomparable Stephanie Mills comes to the front of the class to share her new single “Let’s Do The Right Thing.”
Our Guest
Chaédria LaBouvier is a writer, curator and Basquiat scholar. She was a contributing writer for Elle, and has been published in Refinery 29, New York Magazine, Allure, Vice, as well as other notable publications. She is the first Black curator, first Black woman and the first curator of Cuban descent to organize a show for the Guggenheim Museum, “Basquiat’s ‘Defacement: The Untold Story”. She holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA’s Film School and has served as a consultant and script doctor in television.
Dr. Melanye Price (’95) is Endowed Professor of Political Science at Prairie View A&M University and principal investigator for their African American Studies Initiative, which is funded by the Mellon Foundation. Dr. Price was recently named inaugural director of The Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice. Price is the author of two books: The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race (NYU, 2016) and Dreaming Blackness: Black Nationalism and African American Public Opinion (NYU, 2009).
Dr. Price completed her B.A. magna cum laude in geography at Prairie View A&M University and her MA and PhD in political science at The Ohio State University. Price was the 2017 Black History Month lecturer for the US Embassy in Germany where she lectured at universities and community organizations across the country. Professor Price was one of the contributors to Stanley Nelson’s documentary, Obama: Through the Fire, which aired on BET. She is a regular contributor for The New York Times Opinion section and has also done political commentary for CNN, Ms. Magazine, Hartford Courant, Vox, Pacifica and Houston, New York City and CT Public Radio.
Melynda J. Price is the Robert E. Harding, Jr. Professor of Law and the Director of the African American and Africana Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Price is the author of At the Cross: Race, Religion and Citizenship in the Politics of the Death Penalty (Oxford University Press, 2015). Her work has been published in both peer-reviewed social science and law journal, newspapers and literary journals.
Professor Price joined the UK College of Law as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2006 after completing the doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan. Her dissertation was awarded the 2007 Best Dissertation Award from the Race, Ethnicity and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. In addition to her degree in political science, she also earned a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2002. While at the University of Texas, she was a member of the Texas International Law Journal and was awarded both the University of Texas Coop Award for Public Interest Law and the Baron and Budd Scholarship for Public Interest Law. She completed her undergraduate studies in Physics at Prairie View A&M University in 1995.
Professor Price’s research focuses on race, gender and citizenship, the politics of punishment and the role of law in the politics of race and ethnicity in the U.S. and at its borders. In 2008, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her host institution was the Capital Punishment Center at the University of Texas School of Law.
Stephanie Mills is a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, actress and Broadway star. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she started singing at the age of three. At the age of nine, she starred in the Broadway musical “Maggie Flynn”. She followed that up by winning the competitive Amateur Hour at the Apollo for six straight weeks. The New York native rose to stardom as “Dorothy” in the original Broadway run of the hit musical, “The Wiz”.
In 2015, Stephanie was cast as “Aunt Em” in the NBC live musical of “The Wiz, forty years after her initial Broadway appearance in the production. Mrs. Mills studied music at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School of Music.
The recipient of countless number one hit records to include “I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love”, “I Feel Good All Over”, “You’re Putting A Rush On Me”, “Something In The Way You Make Me Feel”, and “Home”. She has won multiple awards including a Grammy Award, Tony Award, NAACP Image Awards, and American Music Award just to name a few. She continues to do what she loves, which is travel around the country on tour and performing live in front of sold out audiences spreading love and empowering people to be their best
With the state of our black males, Mrs. Mills wanted to do more than just sing about love and inspiring. She recently formed her own 501© (3) non-profit corporation, the 444LOVE18 Foundation headquartered in Charlotte, NC; The 444LOVE18 Foundation is a nonprofit that focuses on spreading love in the urban communities. Developing and maintaining programs to enrich our underprivileged youth both in school and outside of school. Helping families unite and come together. Her new song, “Let’s Do The Right Thing” is available now.
Homework:
Find your oldest relatives and ask them to share their story and rich history with you.
Research Black Texans
Remember the 13th Amendment and its exception and think about who are the people that still need to be emancipated.
Check out “Let’s Do The Right Thing https://iamstephaniemills.com/lets-do-the-right-thing/
