It’s Juneteenth, So Let's Review a Few Social Justice Stories
I've been writing about social justice for a long time, so the list is long. Here are some of my favorites, both fiction and nonfiction.
I feel a little bad because I haven’t written a substantial social justice piece in a longer than usual while. Truth is, I’m a little burned out on all of this. My output lately reflects it. It’s all pretty exhausting living through this final backlash of racist America.
And that’s what I truly believe this is.
It’s like Custer’s last stand. I think the results will be similar, but more catastrophic for the fools trying to create something that cannot happen.
If they wanted to create a whites-only country, they had plenty of time to do it. Maybe in the 1950s. Or the 1930s. Maybe before that. I don’t know. It’s a moot point.
Now, whether they like it or not, the nation is a rainbow of colors, in more than one way.
The ship has sailed.
So what we are experiencing is a last stand. A bunch of slow-minded white guys in the back of a pickup truck blindly shooting at anything that moves. A part of me doesn’t even want to take them seriously anymore, but I know we still must for a while longer.
The country is slipping from their grasp to the point where they’re even losing Georgia, and the rest of us live in a nation that this week celebrated the opening of the Obama Presidential Center with an array of celebrities that demonstrated how puny the dying, fading carcass that Donald Trump has become.
The period of outrage is almost over. Juneteenth is a holiday for all of us, even though it was conceived for our Black friends and neighbors.
Since I want to pay homage to Juneteenth, but didn’t have the energy to write, I’ve simply collected a few things I’ve written over the last couple of years. I hope you’ll honor Juneteenth by checking out one or two of them and restacking your favorite.
Thanks, as always, for your readership.
The List
This first one came right out of my gut.
The Racism That Still Lives Deep in My Bones
I’m blessed to be living in the world capital, Atlanta, of an exciting phenomenon that has worldwide historical and sociological implications: a Black Renaissance.
This is a primer for white folks on Wokeness, CRT, and DEI…
Wokeness, CRT, and DEI — A Primer for White People
I’m so white that when I walk outside on a day of newly fallen snow, I blend in like a chameleon. I’m part of the privileged class. If anybody should cheer on the current backlash against wokeness, it should be me. Hell, I’m Anglo-Saxon, best I can tell. With blue eyes.
This short piece of fiction is tangentially related to Restive Souls, an alternative history novel about the emancipation of slaves in the late 1700s (not yet published). In this short story, a white man wakes up in the alternative world of Restive Souls and wonders what the hell is going on.
This piece explored a Black man named Horace King, whose impact on bridge building during the early to mid 1800s was felt throughout the South…
This recent post explored the Black origins of Memorial Day:
The Black Origins of Memorial Day
Imagine 3,000 Black schoolchildren, children of ex-slaves, marching around a race track singing the song, “John Brown’s Body:”Old John Brown's body is a-mouldering in the dust, Old John Brown's rifleís red with blood-spots turned to rust, Old John Brown's pike has made its last, unflinching thrust, His soul is marching on!
This was my rant directed at people in my demographic who voted for Trump. Sadly, this was a majority in ALL age groups, and it was inexcusable:
No Colonoscopies From You, White Boy
I’m at the age where colonoscopies are as routine as your morning latte. In my case, the two often share a room. Don’t worry. This isn’t an article about colonoscopies.
And another rant against my peers…
If You’re a White Guy Like Me, It’s Easiest to Just Stay Silent
I’m in one of the few demographics considered safe under America’s new authoritarianism. I should have no cares in the world, no matter how much of it burns around me.
And, of course, there’s fiction. Lots of fiction, like this excerpt from Restive Souls:
Elliot Fae
Restive Souls is an alternative history novel in which the Brits win what in our timeline is called the Revolutionary War, and emancipate North American slaves in the wake of the war. Still (forever?) in final edits, so there may be goofs, evil dangling modifiers, and other shenanigans.
This short fiction is another piece set in the Restive Souls universe:
Songs of Narragansett: The Black Liberation of Newport: Part One
This short story is set within the timeline of my upcoming novel, Restive Souls. The events in the story are distinct from the novel’s plot. Emmet Bolo is the name of the (fictional) historian who annotates the novel’s narrative.
And this full mystery novella is set in the modern, but alternative universe world of Restive Souls:
If you’re a member of the Medium platform, you can read a bunch more of my social justice essays here:
Charles Bastille Social Justice stories on Medium
Because we are all connected, everything you read filters out into the universe in at least one small way, filling one of those invisible pathways that link us all. So, thank you in advance for taking a look.
Thanks for reading, and Happy Juneteenth.
“This final backlash of racist America”. Yes. Please. It has been exhausting and discouraging to live in a society where so many people are - and I’m just gonna say it - hateful and stupid. I am afraid to feel that maybe the momentum is starting to shift. I think it is.
Happy Juneteenth! May we have many more.