As Juneteenth Becomes More Popular, Capitalism Concerns By Black LGBTQ Supporters Increase

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CHICAGO, UNITED STATES - Grant Park, Chicago-June 19, 2020: Community leaders and citizens meet downtown to celebrate the anniversary of Juneteenth — Photo by Wirestock

Corporations jump at the opportunity to capitalize on cultural moments. 

This has especially been true with Pride Month over the past few years. Pride Month—recognized in June in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Riots—has become heightened, in some respects, because of the support of corporations like Apple, Nike, and the like. While some members of the LGBTQ community welcome the Pride corporate support, with the addition of Juneteenth as a national holiday, there is a refusal to jump on the corporate support bandwagon for the new federally recognized commemoration.

“I resist it,” said Curtis Lipscomb, LGBT Detroit Executive Director. “My approach on Juneteenth is to use that as an educational moment.”

President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in June 2021. The origins of Juneteenth can be found in Galveston, Texas, where Union soldiers informed enslaved Africans that they were free two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. During the civil rights movement, Juneteenth began experiencing a sort of resurgence which has continued through Biden’s signed order, declaring it a federal holiday.

“The American public does not know its history. Here is a time for people, particularly peculiar people like us, to use the month of June to not only celebrate what it means to be different, but to also use it as a tool to educate the public.”

- Curtis Lipscomb, Executive Director, LGBT Detroit

For Lipscomb, rainbow capitalism, as he describes it, suggests that through some kind of major financial impact, we are to celebrate this thing we call LGBTQ liberation. But for Black LGBTQ+ folks, this is a great time to talk about intersectionality.

“For southern states, Juneteenth has primarily been about telling the story of enslaved people’s freedom,” he said. “I will not use Juneteenth to buy sheets from Macy's and cups from Target. THAT is not going to happen. It is up to us to imagine what Juneteenth is nationally. It is more than celebrating rainbow capitalism, the parties we attend, or the opportunity to express sexual freedom.”

Earl Fowlkes, President, and CEO of the Center for Black Equity agrees. 

There is an opportunity with Juneteenth and Pride Month to educate and share stories.

“I see it as our ancestors moving on our behalf,” he said. “It means now that our issues have to be intertwined—LGBTQ rights and stories of Black LGBTQ folks become intertwined in a very strategic way.”

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Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900 held in "East Woods" on East 24th Street in Austin. Credit: Austin History Center. Via The National Museum of African American History and Culture

Fowlkes points out that over the last two years, corporations and businesses began recognizing Pride Month as a means to an end. For some, it became imperative because they had members of their workforce calling for some form of action. Today, many of those businesses, some of which have relationships with Fowlkes and the Center, have already begun finding ways to pair Pride with Juneteenth.

“Some have already extended invitations for me to speak on the topic of being prideful, being Black, and queer,” he said. “It allows opportunities for my duality to shine forth. The ancestors are intervening.”

Lipscomb supports opportunities such as these.

“The American public does not know its history. Here is a time for people, particularly peculiar people like us, to use the month of June to not only celebrate what it means to be different, but to also use it as a tool to educate the public,” he said. “If CRT—critical race theory — outrages the majority of Americans, then Juneteenth is that day to further outrage them.”

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A group of Black protesters drum in back of moving truck bed — Photo by Cavan

Using Rainbow Capitalism To Our Advantage 

But not only is it an opportunity to educate the greater society about America’s history, but it is also an opportunity for that education to be led by the Black LGBTQ community. For Lipscomb, having Black LGBTQ voices leading the charge of education is a bonus.

“The majority [of the] LGBTQ community won’t take the opportunity. Rainbow capitalism can’t do it; nor is it interested,” he said. “It is up to us to do that. It’s only fitting.”

We are totally in control of how we operate a narrative, said Lipscomb.

“When we see rainbow capitalism or Juneteenth capitalism pop up, we don’t have to buy the product,” he said. “It is truly up to the public to decide. We cannot be surprised when a white sale at Macy's pops up on Juneteenth if we don’t resist it.”

However, said Fowlkes, there is no avoiding Juneteenth commercialization. It is inevitable if the recent capitalization attempt of Walmart, and the subsequent backlash, are any indication.

“The reality is that we are a capitalist society. We commercialize the birth of our savior, his death and resurrection. If we can do that, nothing is off the table,” he said. “I am old enough to remember everything being closed at Christmas and Easter. But today, just about every department store, outlet, what have you, is open on Christmas and people are lining up outside the doors hours before opening.”

The Center of Black Equity is committed to working with businesses and corporations to provide year-round support for the Black and Black LGBTQ communities.

“We tell them, if you want to reach Black gay consumers, you have to do it year-round. That means supporting Black gay pride celebrations. That means supporting HIV/AIDS awareness efforts, that means supporting mental health and women's health initiatives. That means working with Black vendors,” he said. “We want to help connect our community to the world. We have to look at things holistically and in a full-picture sort of way.”

“We tell them, if you want to reach Black gay consumers, you have to do it year-round. That means supporting Black gay pride celebrations. That means supporting HIV/AIDS awareness efforts, that means supporting mental health and women's health initiatives. That means working with Black vendors.”

- Earl Fowlkes, President and CEO, Center for Black Equity

But it does not end there. They are also pushing many of these businesses and corporations to provide equitable employment opportunities as well.

“We need to think about being more open-minded and about how to lift our communities up to make them whole and successful. Black institutions have been doing this for years,” said Fowlkes. “The NAACP, the Black Urban League, many of our Black churches would not be around if not for the money being donated by many of these corporations. If we did not have people outside of our community giving us money, we would not have many of the opportunities we have today.”

LGBT Detroit has a similar commitment, but theirs is more influenced by the Kwanzaa principle of cooperative economics. Juneteenth is just one opportunity of a year-long commitment.

“We do not have enough days to come together for youth development programs, economic studies, and community development. That is what I am highly interested in using Juneteenth for,” he said. “As we prepare for a potential recession, we will be ready to help those who live on the margins by examining what resources they have internally that will help them externally. If your work ceases, we want to be able to connect you to someone who needs the services you provide, whether that is carpentry or something else.”

There are moments, said Lipscomb, when capitalism has its benefits.

“Though I strongly resist capitalism as the major tool, if it has the opportunity to educate, whether through books, documentaries, and other forms of media,” he said, “When it is used to enlighten, then that is when it can work.”