The John Mason Talk-Walk, June 21, 2026

I speak about the history of Juneteenth, and of the need to learn ALL of our history. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 1:08

Hello, hello, hello. How is everybody? This is John Mason. Tomorrow is Mother's Day. And that is the time we pay our respects to all the women in our lives, our mothers and our wives, and our girlfriends, and our sisters, and every other f woman that we come across. Happy Mother's Day, ladies. And if we want the best for the women in our lives, we must protect our reproductive rights. There are all these states going around that places the most onerous restrictions on abortions. Like you only have an abortion after so many weeks before you even know the woman even knows that there's a fetus inside of her. And you remembered uh Katie Brett, the senator from Arkansas, who had this very ham bad case of ham acting after Biden's uh State of the Union address. Is that the best Republicans can do? Well anyway, she has this bright idea of a database. She's proposing this bill that would establish a database for all women who are pregnant. Hello, hello, hello, John Mason. How is everybody? Hope you're all well. Being careful in this heat, drinking a lot of water, staying in the shade. Over the weekend we have celebrated Juneteenth. That commemorates the day when in June of 1865, two months after Lee surrendered to Grantham Appomattox, yay! Union soldiers under the command of General George Granger entered Galveston, Texas and informed and informed the slaves, people held in slavery, still still slow in slavery, that they were free. And uh and that well they didn't they were never informed, of course, about the emancipation proclamation because the slaveholders didn't want their s the people they enslave to know that they're supposed to be free. See see what good are your rights if you don't know you have 'em? And so Juneteenth is it is an African American uh festival day. In some jurisdictions it's uh is a holiday. Where where we commemorate African American achievements, culture, and and support uh African-descended vendors. Which is and commemorating black accomplishments uh in this country is particularly important because this because this regime lurking around the White House uh dirtying the reflecting pool, they're trying to eliminate any mention of black people accomplishing anything. Recently, uh Peak Hogsbreath uh Hagseth has ordered the removal of the of the official picture of General Charles Chappee James, who was the four first four-star African American, four-star general in the United States Air Force. And you'll and you know that Hagesith has been on a on a campaign to limit any mention of certain minority of minorities or African Americans or women or LGBTQ people in the military. Like that's a bad thing. See, apparent, as you know, uh the right wing and the media outlets and the politicians have been using the terms woke and DEI like they're cuss words, like they're trying to change around the actual meaning of these terms, and unfortunately, we've let them get away with it. But we must reclaim those terms as the positive things they are. As I have said millions of times, woke is a is a term in African American culture, meaning stay woke or pay attention to what's going on around you. That's woke. So apparently they don't want us to be comatose, they don't want us to know what's going on in the world, in our own country. And I've known a lot of people growing up in a crappy in that township in Pennsylvania I came out of, where they didn't want to be involved in nothing, they didn't care about nothing. All they cared about was going on immediately around them. Can't be like that. What goes on in the nation in general will eventually affect us, such as the ongoing rise in the cost of uh food like meat and gasoline and milk and all. So Americans, stay woke. Whether you're African American or not, please read some African American history and culture. Please understand the African American experience and accomplishments in this country. And all of a sudden, I'm thinking about the recent ruling by the Third U.S. Circuit Court that allows the Trump administration to remove the historic panels once again of the President's House exhibit in P in Philadelphia, where I'm in. And and the unpleasant fact that he owns slaves. I mean, I mean he was a great man, but not a perfect man. We have to we have to we can't let them get away with this. That's it. That's the message for today. Learn our history, all of it. And on that cheering note, advertisements. All this work I do on my podcast and my blog and my YouTube channel, my poetry, my fiction, work, all work, worky, worky, work. And it costs uh money for me to put these this material on all these platforms, and I need to be compensated for it, and with enough money I could raise it all to a higher level. So please get on my website, johnomason.com, and click either the PayPal button or the Buy Me a Coffee button and see what you can give. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks. And also, Himparenthic is a lovely little CBD product store located on Snyder Avenue near 15th Street in South Philadelphia. There you will find some of the finest cannabis-infused products. Gummies and candies and drinks and teas and lip balm hand sanitizer and dog treats. Yeah, dog treats. Of course, uh flour. Look them up, please. Hemorificlc.com. And also my beloved career and business coach, Michelle Snow. Michelle is super excellent in helping you develop your professional career or small business. Let you know what you're doing right where you need work and help you network with other up-and-coming entrepreneurs professionals. Please look her up. Grow with snow.com. Alrighty then. That's what we have that's what we have to do. Learn our history. And and the fact that uh this imbecile and his uh menagerie of morons is running our government. Uh let us let us let us not allow that to uh ruin our celebration of the 250th anniversary of this glorious country. Read American history, all of it. And learn learn about the great fights for freedom. And think and act accordingly. Thanks. Have a good week ahead of you. Bye.