June 19.2026- Juneteenth, and the skies were raging! We awoke to heavy thunder and lightning, with about 3″ of rain falling, during the course of the morning. Aram went into work, driving carefully, on roads that were not yet waterlogged. The flash flood watch came a little later.but we were happily inside, until the rain stopped. There was no walk for Hana today, though. The stroller does not need to be pushed through mud, which usually runs onto sidewalks and gullies that form on the inside lanes of surface streets.

It goes without saying, that I will encourage Hana to resist any unlawful authority. I will tell her to respect and obey her parents, teachers and police. I will tell her that anyone who disrespects her person has not earned her respect. I will tell her that there is a system for reporting unprofessional behaviour by those who are vested with authority, and that her parents and I will be the first people to whom she should report such things.

This is the legacy of Juneteenth, that no one need consent to slavery under another human being-or group of humans. This is so, no matter the economic, political or social status of the would-be enslaver. Not all enslavement is plantation-based, as we see from the Epstein files and other accounts of human trafficking. No one deserves to be under another person’s thumb, no matter the initial enticement.

My granddaughter will know this, from the time she can walk.