Category: Holidays

From Mock Paper Scissors:

Guys, this is a big, eff'ing deal:

Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan announced earlier today that the National Archives plans to place the Emancipation Proclamation on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.

This puts The Emancipation Proclamation on the same footing as the other foundational documents: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights:

"When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, he wrote that 'all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free,''' Shogan quoted. "Although the full privileges of freedom were not immediately bestowed upon all Americans with Lincoln's order, I am proud that the National Archives will enshrine this seminal document for public display adjacent to our nation's founding documents. Together, they tell a more comprehensive story of the history of all Americans and document progress in our nation's continuous growth toward a more perfect Union," she said."

And this story puts the significance of having the Emancipation Proclamation in situ side-by-side with the others :

Thousands queue to see the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3

We're far from a perfect union, I get that; our aspirations are greater than our realities. I can feel the  ground shake a little bit; something has shifted. The culture has moved, and though we still have a long way to go, today we moved together into a better future.

It's a baby step, but it is an important one.

Happy Juneteenth!