OL Reign Community Reflects on Juneteenth
On June 19, OL Reign will be on the road in Cary, NC to take on the North Carolina Courage. This match holds a special significance for both teams, as the clubs are joining forces to commemorate Juneteenth.
Juneteenth is considered the “longest running African-American holiday” and recognizes June 19, 1865, as the date of formalized emancipation of slaves in the United States. Originating from the arrival of federal troops in Galveston, Texas, who delivered the news of freedom to those enslaved in Texas—two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation—the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.
Though Juneteenth is a day for celebrating Black joy and achievement, it is important to recognize that while the Emancipation Proclamation promised freedom, there are still systemic inequalities and oppressions within our nation’s history that continue today.
In a historic decision made just this week, Juneteenth has been designated a federal holiday after a bill was passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021. Juneteenth is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.
To celebrate Juneteenth, OL Reign and the North Carolina Courage have come together to take action in several ways. The teams will be wearing Juneteenth warm-up shirts, as well as promoting a food drive and working to raise money to support the community. Several players from both teams also participated in a panel discussion with the Dead Whales Society about Juneteenth and the importance of this day.
OL Reign forward Tziarra King is looking forward to the designated Juneteenth match in North Carolina on Saturday and getting to share this experience with the North Carolina Courage. “We are glad that North Carolina has taken the initiative to make this event happen and OL Reign is 100% on board. As far as the game being nationally televised, that’s always hype but especially on a day like this that has such historical meaning, what more could you ask for?”
OL Reign defender Madison Hammond added, “I think it’s really exciting. I think it is going to be really nice to not only have my teammates Zee and Alana, but also to be with Jess [McDonald] and Lynn [Williams] and the Black players on the Courage. I think that is really exciting and powerful and I love being part of the BWPC. All of us are competitive on the field but off the field knowing you have this other family is really special.”
For King and Hammond, Juneteenth is a day to celebrate the Black community, rather than focusing solely on the hardships the Black community has persevered through. Hammond said, “For me, Juneteenth is a day that is specifically reserved for the celebration of Black joy.”
She explained that “a lot of times the narrative gets spun to only give the sad stories and the sad narrative about Black communities and the struggles that the Black community and Black people have had to go through, but I think it is one day, one holiday, that is just ours. We get to be happy and be proud that we’re Black.”
Both King and Hammond agree that it is important to focus on education when it comes to being an ally to the Black community. King, who did not learn about Juneteenth in school said, “That’s something that as a country, these are things we need to look back on and reflect on. What does liberty, justice, freedom – all of these words that we have, and these important songs and gestures, what does it really mean to our country?”
Hammond, who did learn about Juneteenth in school said, “My personal experience with it has varied just because I did learn about it in school, but it was just a little tiny section of the textbook. It kind of just had a couple of sentences being like, ‘this exists but we are not going to take a ton of time to acknowledge it in the way the we acknowledge a Fourth of July or a Memorial Day’. I think that being able to recognize the importance that the day has in the community, but also a lot of people in the Black community do not have an intimate relationship with the holiday. Being able to spread that to everybody is really important.”
“It’s a kind of cheesy phrase, but knowledge is power. I think that the limiting of this knowledge and all throughout American and even world history, there are just instances upon instances where people have tried to take away power from other people by limiting their full scope and understanding of certain situations,” Hammond said.
She continued, “I think for the Black community specifically, that has really been a huge disadvantage in terms of financial literacy, socioeconomic status, we could get into all kinds of things. It’s just really heartbreaking because the access to education is one of the things that I’ve been so privileged with and a lot of my peers have privileged with and it really just gives you the opportunity to do whatever you want with your life and I think that taking away that opportunity in order to fulfill whatever narrative is suitable for you is just really heartbreaking.”
“Unfortunately, I think that the only way that we as a country, we as communities, and we as individuals can move forward and progress is to know the full scope of our past. I think that us trying to take that away now, in 2021, is so unproductive but unfortunately, we are just going to continue to see action like this unless you start with the individual. You start with yourself. You start with your friends. You start with your community and tell yourself this isn’t good enough. Surrounding yourself with people who know it’s not good enough and continuing to expand that message is literally the only thing that we can do in order to preserve our future.”
“It is so interesting how people today try to put it on initiatives and the ‘American Dream’ and pull your bootstraps up and get the job done, when in reality you cannot look at it from this lens without going back in time and seeing how all of these things have impacted our community. It is so important that people just continue to bring these stories and historical events to the light so we can continue to learn and continue to grow as a society,” said King.
“As Black players, we are all happy and proud to be Black. I think that this day should just celebrate and amplify all of the good that being Black does for not only us as individuals but for my career, my community, and my family and things like that. It is just a day of joy and I think that should be something we take away from it,” Hammond reiterated.
As Black history is not often fully taught in schools, it can be hard to find the resources needed to education yourself on historical and ongoing issues that the Black community faces. Though, with the help of social media, resources are becoming more accessible.
“I genuinely have probably learned more from social media than anywhere else,” said King. “Documentaries… there are some amazing Black historians that are really doing the hard work and groundwork to get this information out, so just continuing to use resources like that. Asking older generations… I just remember over the summer sitting down with my grandma, just asking her about all of her stories, like marching with MLK, all of these amazing things that we have the ability to ask. It is so important that we do ask these questions before that generation passes. It is really just getting all of the information that we can.”
It is important to remember that as an ally, it is not the Black community’s job to find educational resources for you. King said, “It is a day of joy and celebration. As allies or nonblack people, it is important for you to learn to navigate that space in whatever way is best for you.”
Hammond chimed in to add, “There’s history to be learned. Just lean into the history and the facts. You don’t have to go to your black teammates every time to give you the history of the Black community and Black trauma in our country. You’ve got twitter, TikTok, even Snapchat… there’s so much info on the internet and I think that leaning into what is available is important to resituate your understanding of history in this county and how it has impacted the current situation that we all live in.”
The Black Future Co-op Fund, partner of OL Reign, featured on the front of the team’s jersey and honored as OL Reign Legends, has its own Juneteenth campaign that highlights important issues in the Black community. In total, philanthropic investment in the Black community hovers around only 1.8 percent. The Black Future Co-op Fund, our state’s first philanthropy created by and for Black Washingtonians to ignite Black generational wealth, health, and well-being, is working to combat this by building a new model of philanthropy that prioritizes the Black community.
They are calling on investments from the Black community for the Black community, from allies to the cause of Black liberation, and from all who seek to strengthen health, education, and economic opportunity with Black Washingtonians.
“Juneteenth is significant because it’s a reminder that until everyone is free, no one is free,” said T’wina Nobles, one of four architects of the Black Future Co-op Fund and Washington state senator. “With the Black Future Co-op Fund, our vision of a liberated future is Black people being free — free from white supremacy, free to fully live our lives, and free to have the opportunity of generational wealth, health, and well-being.”
King expressed her gratitude for the community surround OL Reign, “I feel very grateful for the group that we have here at OL Reign because they go to bat for us. I think that is one of the biggest things that you can do when voices need to be heard. It’s not always like dependent on us. They are going to go and let it be known why these things are okay or why we feel how we feel or whatever. I’m super grateful for that. I think that’s a huge piece of being an ally, without stepping over the line of trying to speak for someone…really amplifying the voices that are being put out there by black players and black people.”
Hammond also reflected to the support of the larger soccer community. “I hope that the league continues to take our thoughts and ideas into consideration and think about how they are going to meaningfully incorporate those into the vision and future of the league. How do you elevate young girls of color and young black girls who want to play in this league and give them the tools and resources and support to make it to the pros because this is the best job ever and we want more black girls to be playing with us as the league keeps progressing.”
Hammond concluded with a shoutout to the fans. “Thank you to all of the fans for your genuine support and not only supporting us as players but as people. I am excited to see where this league goes and I’m just excited for everything.”
To support the Black Future Co-op Fund please visit blackfuturewa.org/donate.
Every donation to the Black Future Co-op Fund is an investment in a liberated future with shared prosperity for Black Washingtonians. Funds are used to build upon the vision of Black sovereignty in four areas of action—connecting Black communities for collective power, promoting a truthful Black narrative, investing in Black-led solutions to generational prosperity, and shifting the paradigm of philanthropy.