The Day Freedom Was Delayed: Juneteenth’s Truth Unveiled

What if freedom was declared—but no one told you? In this gripping episode, Bernie Brown, The Logical Lawyer, shares the little-known story of Juneteenth: a moment of joy delayed by nearly three years for enslaved African Americans in Texas. Through sharp legal insight, historical context, and a stirring original poem, Bernie unpacks how this delayed emancipation still echoes in modern struggles for justice. From the courtroom to grandma’s kitchen, we journey through memory, trauma, and triumph. This is not just about a holiday—it’s about truth finally arriving at the door.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Coming up on this episode ofthe Logical Lawyer Podcast.

(00:04):
It was tasty.
It was hot.
She made a whole lot, and thenit was a, she called gumbo.

(00:27):
Welcome all to Bernie Brown'sdelight, where legal minds unite both
day and night in uncertain times.
He's
so.

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Welcome to the Logical Lawyer Podcastwith attorney Bernie Brown, retired Los
Angeles assistant city attorney withdecades of legal experience and also
extensive leadership experience servingin top bar associations like the John
M Langston Bar Association and theAssociation of Black City Attorneys.
Bernie is powered by a deeppersonal testimony that took

(01:11):
him from South Central la.
To the courtrooms of downtown LaBernie dives into today's toughest
legal, social, and spiritual issues.
He brings facts, answers, and sharpanalysis to cut through all the noise.
So are you ready for ano nonsense perspective?
Then let's get started with your host.

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Attorney Bernie Brown, the Logical Lawyer.
Hello there.
My name is Bernie Brown.
I am the Logical Lawyer.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
Today we're gonna talk about Juneteenth.
The new Juneteenth holiday and, uh,at the end I am going to recite a
poem that I wrote from the eyes of anold man reminiscing about when he was

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a young child standing in Grandma'skitchen as she prepared the Juneteenth.
Dinner for the Juneteenth family reunion.
Uh, Juneteenth is our newest nationalholiday signed into law by President

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Joe Biden on June 17th, 2021.
Now I have an admission.
I have an admission.
I didn't learn about Juneteenthuntil I was in my thirties.
You see, before it was signed into law.

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Uh, people used toinformally celebrate it.
Communities, neighborhoods.
All across the nation wouldhave informal celebrations and
I, I, I didn't know about it.
They didn't teach, uh, black history inthe elementary schools that I went to.

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Grades for one through 12, and if youdidn't hear about it in the church,
then you might not hear about it.
Obviously, I didn't hear about it.
The first time I heard about it waswhen I was at the city attorney's
office and I'm at an attorney there.
I'm the supervising attorneyof the branch and Annie Battle.

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She's the support staff supervisor saysto me, what are you doing for Juneteenth?
And I looked at her, Isaid, what is Juneteenth?
And she said, you don'tknow what Juneteenth is.
What's wrong with you?
Oh man.

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It was like, turn in your black card.
It was terrible, but I didn't know.
Um.
Juneteenth commemorates the day enslavedof African Americans living in Confederate
States first learned that they were free.

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You see, what happened was onJanuary 1st, 1863, Abraham Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamationthat declared freedom for slaves.
In Confederate states.
He issued it, but slavery did not stop.

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It continued on in slavein, in Confederate states.
The slave masters didn't bother totell the slaves that they were free.
They kept them working.
They kept them in bondage.
They kept him enslaved.
Uh, so they weren't told, and sothey didn't know that they were free.

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It wasn't until June, 1865, twoand a half years after the eman.
Patient proclamation when GeneralGordon Granger arrived in Galveston,
Texas with 2000 troops and told theslaves, you are free, free at last.

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Free at last,
so Juneteenth, the day when theslaves found out they were free, it
had been celebrated in many churchesand communities for decades after
that date, after that special day.
And it wasn't, you see itcelebrated on June the 19th.

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There were informal celebrations.
Going on throughout our nation.
In various communities.
Uh, and it wasn't until Joe Biden156 years later after the slaves were
freed, it wasn't until he signed it intolaw on June 6th, 20, I'm sorry, 2021.

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That it became anofficial national holiday.
Can you imagine the joy and jubilationof being free for the first time?
Can you just say you, you're a slave,you're out there in the fields.
You're slaving and you know you'repicking cotton and you're working hard

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and guards are standing around you andshoot the kill if you try to escape.
And all of a sudden here comes a generalwith a whole army of troops and they say.
You are free.
Wow.
What an awesome feelingthat must have been.

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Throw those rakes down, throwthe shovel, throw everything.
You fix it.
Just boom.
I'm free.
A wonderful day.
A wonderful day.
It must have been.
But, but I asked you to comewith me for just one moment as

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we see it generations later.
From the eyes of an old man ashe remembers his childhood in
the kitchen with grandma as sheprepares a meal for the Juneteenth
family reunion with a food feast.

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From Africa.
Yeah.
I recite for you now.
Grandma's Food Feast from Africa.
It was family reunion day.
And great, great grandma was twitching andswitching and pitching fox in the kitchen.

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It's a lot of hard workpreparing all that food.
But she was singing a prettysong to keep her in a good mood.
I was only two feet tall and washaving a ball as I smelled the food

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coming all the way down the hall.
She was making a feastand it smelled so good.
She said, back in the day,we did the best we could.
She said, I learned how todo this before you were born,

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and then came a day whenthere was suffering.
And mourn.
They took us over the waterto a lamb that was foreign.
And made his work from sunriseto sunset, smothered and torn.

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We had these great foods in ourbeautiful country of Africa, and we
brought some of them with us to this.
Place they call America.
We planted our gardens.
We planted gardens for George Washingtonand Thomas Jefferson and many, many more.

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We had no place to run.
So we just worked allday in God's Given sun.
We planted collards and mustards and tins.

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And Kale.
Yes, they called us Savage, butthey really loved to eat our cabb.
She boiled them in pork fat and seasonedthem with fresh garlic, onions, and salt.

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She cooked them in a big pot.
It was tasty.
It was hot.
She made a whole lot.
And then there was a potthat she called gumbo.
What was in it?
I.

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And all I know is I wanted more and moreand more of that great tasting gumball,
and then there was the corn bread.
We used it to soak up the juicesand it could never be said

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that we were not fully fed.
Oh, she said, I forgot totell you about the rice.
Yummy, yummy, yummy.
With all the wonderfulspicy, it tastes so nice.
We brought it with us on the shipand fortunately it survived the trip.

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They had never tasted it in this land,and they instantly became a big, big fan.
Ha.
And then there was the hopping.
It set my mouth on firewith passion and desire,

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and all the time theywere calling us crude.
Still, they loved to eat our food.
Oh, let us not forget the, webrought it here from Ethiopia.
And made it taste like a dish from Utopia.

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And yes, it is true.
Very, very few knew how to make our stewand add the right flavor that we all s
we used all the pigparts that we could get.
We use the head, the feet,the neck, and the ribs.

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Yummy, yummy, yummy.
Everyone came runningtrying to get first dibs.
Oh.
And we taught this nation how to preservefoods with smoke and salt, and ended up
with high blood pressure as a result.

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We season the meatswith pepper and vinegar.
It was a delightful renditionof an old African tradition.
Ah, least I forget.
We taught them how to fry chicken.

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And every time we ate it, ourfingers, we were a licking.
But in the middle of all theflavors, there was something
that really, really stunk.
Oh boy.

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Then we saw that grandma was fiddlingwith those long smelly chitlins.
Still, grandpa loved themdrenched in his secret sauces.
And spices.
When he finished, theyactually tasted quite nice

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and now we are all sitting around thedinner table and I heard someone say,
pass the macaroni and cheese please.
Please, please.
And yes,
we loved Juicy SweetWatermelon on a hot summer day.

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It helped us endure thesun's hot beading gray.
For dessert, we had peach, cobblerand sweet potato pie and banana
footing, candid yams and pound cake.
For heaven sake, grandmareally could shake.

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Make and bake.
And last but not least, we drank itall down with juices from the cola
nuts that we brought from Africa.
White settlers.

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Mix those nuts with water andsweet syrup that tastes like honey.
They called it Coca-Cola andthey made a lot of money.
Now
I 80 years old and.
250 pounds.

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I have high blood pressure, highcholesterol, but, but, but I still
remember grandma as if she's still around.
I. And every time I'm in thekitchen, I happily remember
parts clicked in and clanging.

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Now I realize it wassuch a wonderful sound,
grandma.
Is in heaven now,
and I miss her.
Oh, so, so much.

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But she taught me how to make good foodwith just the right tender, loving touch.
And when no one can hear, I sheda sour tear and softly whisper.

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Grandma, it feels like you are still, and
I appreciate and love you evenmore, grandma, with every.
Passing year because you leftus with these lovely flavors

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that are so near and dear.
Thank you, grandma.
Well, that's a wrap for thisepisode of The Logical Lawyer.
If you found this insightful, be sure tolike, follow, subscribe, leave a review,
and share it with others who appreciatestraight talk and sharp analysis.

(17:57):
Got a question or a topic forBernie, we'd love to hear from you.
Connect with [e-mail].
That's at the Logicallawyer.me, and you've got it.
So until next time, stay informed.
Think critically, and as always.
Keep it logical.
Oh, Bernie Brown, with knowledge profound

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in the realm of justice he's renowned.
Seek the logical where answersare found on each new show.
Sound.