By cj:
Liberation is a time when you are free — when you are able to move, are able to just be, and know who you are as a result of the freedoms that have been afforded to you. Liberation is something that I as a Black woman — along with my Black sistahs and Black brothahs — still search for.
Freedoms like living wherever we choose to live, driving whatever car we are able to afford, and to become all that God says that we can be. However, those freedoms are challenged by gentrification, increasing inflation, lack of a good education in schools located in Black neighborhoods, and the increasing problem of grocery stores and pharmacies that are closing left and right those neighborhoods. So, liberation — a day of my freedom, a day for me to live and say and be and do what I wake up to do by way of God being blessed to be able to do — is what I am still in search of.
We had weekly ODUNDE celebrations all last week. The actual ODUNDE celebration took place on June 8, 2025, marking 50 years of the Nigerian new year up on June 19. I wonder if all companies and all stores that believe in celebrating national holidays will be closed on that day. The respect of setting me free is through the liberation that you hold against me and my people.
When it comes down to this year’s Juneteenth observation — which falls on a Thursday this year — are you off from work? Are you demanding your rights? Are you able to do those things? Are you as free to take off from work that day to celebrate your liberation as you are on the fourth of July, when everything is closed? There are so many opportunities given to the city of Philadelphia to participate that actually take place before the fourth of July, when the fireworks go off. I pray that we will soon have Juneteenth fireworks here in Philadelphia — I do not remember that taking place so far.
It is time to come together as a people and start working together in order to see the change that we need. We cannot continue to hold ourselves back, and we cannot continue to allow challenges to our freedoms, just saying ‘okay’ and stifling who we really are. We should be free to do what we need to, choosing our own course. Complancency is a hard habit to break — it’s a generational hand down, and it still goes on and on.
Liberation, let us look to become people of our own freedoms. Those KWANZAA principles were created for a purpose and a reason. If you are unsure of where to begin and how to get started, look up the seven principles of KWANZAA and begin following them — that would be a great start in finding your liberation. As we all begin to become liberated, whew — the joy of successes will be so profoundly felt everywhere in our lives. Children reading, young adults getting jobs, teenagers looking forward to college and graduating, those that are unsure begin to have a clearer sight on their visibility as to what they may want to become and what they want to get into. Just being free without the thought of who may be watching you, following you when you go into a store, let alone the incorrect identification of you when in search of someone to just say ‘I got him or her, we got them’ to fill a quota of a need for a crime.
Wow — liberation! Let us set our minds on the same setting so that we can realize collective liberation together in the spirit of freedom, love, kindness, hope, and in God. Until next time, take care…PEACE!
cj is an author, poet, educator, spoken word artist, writer, motivational speaker, and inspirational writer who resides in Philadelphia. If you were moved by this piece, shoot cj a “like” or comment at: [email protected].
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, The Philadelphia Sunday SUN, the author’s organization, committee or other group or individual.
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