I to, had never heard of Juneteenth until I was well in to adulthood.  To be fair, the black population in Idaho in the 70s and 80s barely registered being about 0.3% of an already small population.  There was one black family in my town growing up.  I was significantly more knowledgeable about Mexican history.  

I grew up in an Illinois farm town, not too far from a small-to-medium city; so, my school was hardly racially diverse, but I was exposed a little, through my mother's work in Decatur and more in college and the military, plus a love of history (and the tv and cinema of the 70s, which tried to be more inclusive, like Norman Lear's shows). That said, I had never heard the term, though I was quite aware of many events and aspects of African-American history. I looked into the origin of the term and it seems that the term, "Juneteenth," goes waay back, though celebrations waxed and waned in popularity, at different times. There were "jubilee' celebrations; but, one of the things I read was that there were often governmental impediments to celebrations, like restrictions on parks and other locales, to hold celebrations. Some were done by church groups, some were neighborhood affairs and some were organized by civic groups.

In terms of of the media discussing it, it is definitely a recent thing, as I can't recall hearing the media bringing up the topic until the Black Lives Matter protests. Probably the usual tale of ignoring it until someone hits upon an angle for a story. One thing I have learned over the years of reading history is how sanitized school history books were and are and how little is brought up in the media, until someone else makes it a story, especially Hollywood. The first discussion of the Zoot Suit Riots I ever heard, in the national media was when the movie Zoot Suit came out, in 1981 and I heard a discussion with Edward James Olmos about it, when he was on Miami Vice.

40 years ago, for me, though about two weeks earlier.  I had to give one of the speeches, too.  My first encounter with censorship, as the principal had to review it and made me take a joke out of it (tax joke, nothing dirty or offensive).  Looking back, I wish I had rebelled and tossed it aside and said what I really felt; but, my dad was a teacher in the school, so that was never going to happen.  Mostly I wish I had just said it was too hot for speeches (gymnasium, no air conditioning, polyester robes) and lets just go have a party.

NPR's site had an article today about the projected high invasive cancer rates for Generation X, as we hit our 60s. Higher than the Boomers.

Made my day really rosy. I'm at the beginning of that cohort.

First they ignore us, then they poison our environment. Then they underpay us in adulthood. Now, they are going to kill us off at a young age.

Get your check ups done early, folks!

By they, are you referring to the baby boomers?

'Cause if you are, you're painting with a pretty broad brush, codystarbuck, and that wouldn't square with your knowledge of history and its nuances. You don't think those problems began as of 1975, when the first group of us turned 21, do you?

And it's only anecdotal, I know, but the overwhelming majority of boomers I know have dealt with their own f*ckin' cancer or that of someone they love.

You don't want me to start counting, but if you want me to, you can start with me and my wife and my brother and her cousin and her brother and his wife and four uncles, two aunts, two cousins, two longtime good friends, a longtime good friend's wife, another friend's mom and dad, and several colleagues, not to mention folks I only knew casually.

Want me to mention the cancers? They include cancers of the breast, prostate, pancreas, blood, anus and lungs. Oh, and Hodgkin's lymphoma, too. 

F*ck Cancer indeed. That's a rough diagnosis for your friend, MRP. I'm really sorry to hear that. Too damn many people have too damn many cancer stories.

A silver lining is medical research is getting ever-closer to a "cure" for cancer, and we may see it in our lifetimes.

F*ck Cancer!

Sorry for the rant, folks, but taking a break, I’ll be busy mentally; I’ll be seeking a lawyer who defends tenants’ rights. I am absolutely pissed off with landlords who don’t want to arrange repairs (repairs that require a specialist), and who ONLY care about taking rent and nothing else. I’m angry beyond belief, but I enjoy the interactions here, and I feel I’ve made friends. I just needed to vent. I’m at my wits end, and was close to deleting my account here in anger (amazing how on angry/bleak days, you feel like deleting everything from forum accounts to other daily activities).

See ya soon and keep the GREAT topics going. You really are knowledgeable folk, and I’d say I learn something new and fascinating about comic history at least 3-4 times a month.