In Recognition of Juneteenth

My two favorite Ralph Ellison quotes (not including his novel, Invisible Man):

"The blues is an art of ambiguity, an assertion of the irrepressibly human over all circumstances, whether created by others or by one's own human failing."

"When I discover who I am, I'll be free."


And hey, while we're here...two of my favorite James Baldwin quotes:

"Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions, or public discussion of such contradictions, into a proud decoration, such as are given for heroism on the battle field."

• I think I like this quote more for his vernacular snappation than for what it says. You know how I am prone to verbosity and sesquipedalians.

"It is very nearly impossible... to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind."

• Yessssssir...Speak on it.

In case you have no idea what Juneteenth is - and suprisingly, I've recently discovered a number of unfamiliar folks - check this out. (Ralph Ellison also penned a novel of the name, Juneteenth, which after given a heads up of the novel's "circumstances," I have not made a priority to read.)