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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11599609" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="annette-gordon-reed">Annette Gordon-Reed</keyword> wrote "On <keyword id="9375010" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="juneteenth">Juneteenth</keyword>," a book that reflects on <keyword id="15710" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="texas">Texas</keyword> history and her own story.</li><li>Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas.</li><li>Gordon-Reed marveled at 94-year-old activist <keyword id="11466177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="opal-lee">Opal Lee</keyword>, who pushed for a holiday for years.</li></ul>Last month, <keyword id="1533678" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="President-Joe-Biden">President Joe Biden</keyword> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/juneteenth-federal-holiday-biden-signs-bill-employees-get-friday-off-2021-6">signed into law</a> a bill that established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, the culmination of a decadeslong effort for national recognition of one of the most consequential days in US history.Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, two months after the end of the Civil War and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.While June 19 did not erase the plight of <keyword id="1706586" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Black-Americans">Black Americans</keyword>, it gave the formerly enslaved renewed affirmation and hope.In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Juneteenth-Annette-Gordon-Reed/dp/1631498835">"On Juneteenth,"</a> the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Harvard Law School Professor Annette Gordon-Reed, a Texas native, uses historical context and her personal background to explore how the celebration has influenced her life story.Part of her journey was shedding the notion of Juneteenth being a wholly Texan affair, which was rooted in the strong sense of pride among natives."When I went away to college and found out that there were people celebrating [Juneteenth] in other places, I did feel a little possessive about it," she said. "I changed when I realized that it's something that's worth celebrating for everybody."Gordon-Reed recently spoke with Insider about what it meant to see the bill signed at the White House, how Juneteenth can be taught in schools, and how the ideals of the celebration can be maintained going forward. Below are edited excerpts from that interview.Q: In the book, you discuss how you grew up treasuring the specialness of Texas, which initially made you protective of Juneteenth. You soon came to embrace the larger role that Texans played in pushing Juneteenth to become a national holiday. How did it make you feel to see this celebration finally become a federal holiday?It has been just amazing to see the holiday happen. It happened so quickly. After the House and Senate voted, I got an email from the White House inviting me to come down to Washington, DC, for the signing ceremony. It was just extraordinary to have all these people in the East Room who were happy about this - we've been through so much in the past year with the pandemic. I think it will be good for the country to have a day to reflect on <keyword id="70563" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Slavery">slavery</keyword> and the end of slavery.What was it like to see President Biden <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-biden-kneels-greet-94-year-old-juneteenth-activist-opal-lee-2021-6">kneeling</a> to greet and honor Opal Lee, the 94-year-old Texas native who has been advocating for a national Juneteenth holiday for years?Well, the first thing that I was impressed with is how easily he got down and got up. I don't know if I could do that. Opal worked so hard to make Juneteenth a national holiday. To see her in the room with the president paying special attention to her, bringing her onstage, and giving her a pen, was just thrilling. She got to see something that she put in motion come to fruition.<div type="image" title="Opal Lee Joe Biden" height="2655" width="3982" msid="84253176" hostid="261"></div>The story of Juneteenth, of course, has to include a discussion about slavery in the US. However, there is now a national debate over the way in which race can be taught in K-12 classrooms, along with critical race theory, which examines how the legacy of racism continues to reverberate through laws and policies that exist today. How can Juneteenth be fully explored in a K-12 environment amid the debate over race in education?Now that it's a national holiday, you have to be able to discuss Juneteenth. I don't see any way around it. There will be challenges to some of those [anti-critical race theory] laws too, and some of them seem to be blatantly unconstitutional. Over the course of doing events for "On Juneteenth," I saw that there are so many books for kids about Juneteenth at almost every level, from kindergarten and first grade to young adults. There are people out there who are talking about it in an age-appropriate way.You recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/opinion/juneteenth-july-4th-holiday.html">wrote </a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/opinion/juneteenth-july-4th-holiday.html">an opinion essay</a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/opinion/juneteenth-july-4th-holiday.html"> in The New York Times</a> about the connection between Juneteenth and July 4, where you mentioned the archived 1920s-era footage of Black Americans <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2020/06/19/celebrating-juneteenth-solomon-sir-jones-films">marching</a> in a Juneteenth parade in Beaumont, Texas. What were your first reactions when you saw the clip?It was deeply moving. I know how tough Texas was in 1925 for Black people. I just felt very proud of them, with the sort of resilience in the face of all that I know that's going on in that time period. There's Jim Crow. There are lynchings in parts of Texas. And they're there, continuing on with tremendous faith. Some of them are waving American flags. They're saying, "We are citizens of this place and this is where we belong."Many have remarked that they don't want to see Juneteenth become just another holiday, where its true meaning becomes lost or muddled. What can people do to ensure that the legacy of Juneteenth lives on?I think that members of the Black community who know about Juneteenth and care about it will continue to make the holiday what it's always been. I'm pretty confident about this. I have a feeling that the people who have been doing this for years will teach and exhort the rest of the country to take it seriously.

Historian Annette Gordon-Reed on Juneteenth: 'It has been just amazing to see the holiday happen'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President <keyword id="99719" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Biden">Joe Biden</keyword> delivered a special greeting on Thursday to <keyword id="11466177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="opal-lee">Opal Lee</keyword>, a 94-year-old Texas activist.</li><li>In 2016, Lee marched 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas, to DC to advocate for making Juneteenth a federal holiday. </li><li>Biden officially made Juneteenth a <keyword id="400389" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="National-holiday">national holiday</keyword>, signing the bill into law with Lee by his side. </li></ul>President Joe Biden delivered a special greeting on Thursday to a central figure in the campaign to make Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery, a national holiday - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/juneteenth-federal-holiday-biden-signs-bill-employees-get-friday-off-2021-6">a goal that became law on Thursday</a>. Biden got down on one knee to greet Opal Lee, the 94-year-old Juneteenth advocate and former educator from Texas, at the presidential signing ceremony as Vice President <keyword id="180909" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kamala-Harris">Kamala Harris</keyword> introduced her. Growing up in Marshall and Fort Worth, Lee celebrated Juneteenth every year. On Juneteenth in 1939, when she was 12, a white mob raided and burned her family's home. In 2016, Lee walked 1,400 miles from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, DC, in an effort to raise awareness and support for making Juneteenth a federal holiday.During his speech before the signing, Biden asked the audience to give Lee, who was seated in the front row, a standing ovation. "We're blessed to mark the day in the presence of Ms. Opal Lee - as my mother would say, God, love her," Biden said. "Over the course of decades, she's made it her mission to see that this day came." The president joked that Lee was just 49 years old. "You are an incredible woman," he added. Biden gave Lee the first pen he used to sign the bill into law. "I've got so many different feelings all gurgling up here, I don't know what to call them all," Lee <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSThisMorning/status/1405489811201445891">told reporters</a> after Congress passed the bill on Wednesday. "I'm so delighted to know that, finally, we've got a Juneteenth bill passed."Juneteenth, often referred to as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, celebrates <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth">June 19, 1865</a>, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved African Americans were emancipated in the last Confederate territory.

Biden got down on one knee to welcome the 94-year-old 'grandmother' of Juneteenth to the White House

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jason Lee interviewed Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors in May of 2022. </li><li>The Hollywood Unlocked founder recently had Cullors on his podcast. </li></ul>Jason Lee does not agree with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, that Black Lives Matter is a scam.In an interview with Insider, Lee defended Patrisse Cullors, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, calling her "a woman who started a global movement and maybe wasn't as ready to understand the infrastructure that needed to be built." Lee is a former labor organizer and the founder of the entertainment site <a href="https://hollywoodunlocked.com/">Hollywood Unlocked</a>. He interviewed Black Lives Matters co-founder Patrisse Cullors on the site's <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hollywood-unlocked-with-jason-lee-uncensored/id1319481363">podcast</a> in May of 2022.Lee also previously worked with Ye — who recently wrote, "Everyone knows that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-obama-black-lives-matter-office-manager-carlson-interview-2022-10?_ga=2.109651654.2105586850.1665421208-1996747788.1647018266">Black Lives Matter</a> was a scam now it's over you're welcome," in his Instagram stories on October 4 — as the head of Donda Media before the two parted ways. Lee told Insider he no longer speaks for West on September 29. <div type="image" title="kanye west maga hat" height="1517" width="2023" msid="94847525" hostid="261" sizebytes="113312"></div>"Part of controlling your narrative is you being able to be your own storyteller," said Lee to Insider. "I don't want to tell his story, I let him tell his own."He commented on the dissolution of their working relationship after Ye wore a <a href="https://www.insider.com/kanye-west-compares-white-lives-matter-shirt-to-tonya-harding-2022-10">White Lives Matter</a> at Paris Fashion Week in a live stream. "Kanye's post does nothing but serve up white supremacy on a platter to them. It does nothing for us," he said during the stream. "There are similarities and very big differences between me and Ye," he told Insider.<h2>Lee calls the criticism against Cullors and Black Lives Matter a 'witch hunt'</h2><div type="image" title="patrisse Cullors " height="2664" width="3559" msid="94847528" hostid="261" sizebytes="310854"></div>"Black Lives Matter" is a common refrain on social media asserting the value of Black lives. It's also the name of a global organization with multiple chapters that identifies itself as a "Black-centered political will and movement building project," according to its website. Cullors co-founded Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi and it went global with chapters in several countries, according to the organization. In recent years, Black Lives Matter has been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-los-angeles-race-and-ethnicity-philanthropy-only-on-ap-db1db730c77540f0cbc614b0d3522b88">accused of financial improprieties</a>, which Cullors denies, and received criticism for a $6 million compound in LA that the organization says it plans to turn into a campus for Black artists, according to the Associated Press. Cullors was also accused of using the organization's finances to purchase personal property, which she also denies.<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57277777">She resigned from the organization in 2021</a> but said it wasn't related to the claims and was long planned."It turned into this whole witch hunt, which is crazy," Lee said, speaking of the criticism against Cullors. "Because if you run a $90-million organization, you should be able to own a million-dollar house, a million-dollar house sounds like a lot but it really isn't. I just feel like it was a witch hunt."Black Lives Matter is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/06/26/top-u-s-non-profit-hospitals-ceos-are-racking-up-huge-profits/?sh=11d84bc719df">not the only philanthropic organization</a> to be questioned <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/07/1091487910/blm-leaders-face-questions-after-allegedly-buying-a-mansion-with-donation-money">about its finances</a> and that of its leaders and founders. Payments made to the leadership team <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/leaders-of-charity-backed-by-meghan-were-paid-2m-c77fhs85d">One Young World</a> are currently being investigated, according to The Times of London, and the Susan G. Korman foundation was <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339038/Susan-G-Komen-CEO-raking-684-000-year-breast-cancer-organization-faces-nationwide-race-cancellations-flagging-donations.html">publicly questioned</a> about the money it spent on executive salaries in 2013. During Lee's conversation with Cullors on his podcast, the two discussed the history of Black Lives Matter and her role in developing the organization. She also outlined the jobs she was doing outside of her work with the organization including teaching, writing books, and developing exclusive content with Warner Media."She launched it, it kind of grew from under her feet," said Lee. When reached for comment, Cullors told Insider: "Jason Lee is a brilliant strategist and media maker. His work with Black Hollywood Unlocked is game-changing. I was grateful he sat with me at such a critical time in my life. Compassionate, but firm Black media is what we need right now, especially in the age of misinformation and disinformation."<h2>Lee's pop-culture site Hollywood Unlocked is now taking on politics</h2><div type="image" title="Jason Lee" height="2229" width="2972" msid="94847530" hostid="261" sizebytes="227706"></div>Lee has been widening his own professional narrative by telling stories that include politics and social causes. "I always like fighting for the underdog because I feel like as Black people, we're always the underdog," he said to Insider. Lee explained the moment he decided to expand the site he originally created to be "the pulse of pop culture" to include politics: "I saw them literally squeeze the life out of George Floyd by standing on his neck," he said.The eight minutes and 46 seconds had an impact on Lee. "I was like, 'Yo, I have a voice,'" he continued. "A voice has a responsibility so I have to broaden my content to cover this stuff more. I need to use my visibility." Similar sites like The Shade Room and Bossip have begun to include more politics in their coverage as well. They have sprinkled screenshots of racist remarks by politicians, and coverage of community programs into their reporting on <a href="https://www.insider.com/jason-lee-cardi-b-nicki-minaj-twitter-horrible-for-hiphop-2022-10">rap beefs</a> and exposing celeb spouses. As smaller outfits with direct relationships with their audiences, sites like Lee's can pivot quickly. "We're an outlier that can change the narrative at any moment with a story that we put out," Lee told Insider."We've been trying to figure out how do we continue as Hollywood Unlocked to expand our ability to educate not just celebrities but businesses, brands and otherwise, how to communicate better to the culture," he continued.You can listen to the full conversation between Lee and Cullors below.

Jason Lee calls the backlash aimed at Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors a 'witch hunt'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Retired NBA great Kevin Garnett told Business Insider that he was one of the players Spike Lee approached for the starring role in his 1998 movie "He Got Game," which went to Ray Allen.</li><li>Garnett said that he "didn't have any confidence" to consider playing the lead in a movie.</li><li>He said Lee was persistent and Garnett finally passed when the director asked him to do a screen test.</li><li>However, Garnett has acting talent, and he shows that off in the upcoming movie, "Uncut Gems."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Ray Allen played the lead in Spike Lee's classic 1998 basketball fable "He Got Game," but originally the director had another NBA legend in mind for the part. Kevin Garnett - an NBA Finals champ with the Celtics, MVP, and one of the greatest power forwards who ever played - said that Lee really wanted him for the role of high school phenom Jesus Shuttlesworth."First time they brought it to me I ignored them because I'm a super shy guy," Garnett told Business Insider while promoting the movie "Uncut Gems" (out in limited release December 13 and nationwide Christmas day), in which he plays a version of himself. "I didn't have any confidence so I didn't really take him seriously."But Garnett said Lee was persistent in trying to nab him - and for good reason. In the movie, Shuttlesworth is going through the decision to attend college or go straight to the pros. Garnett went through the same thing, deciding in 1995 to go from high school to the NBA and becoming the first player to skip college and go pro in 20 years. It paved the way for many others. "So I'm on vacation and my agent went with me and he told me, 'Spike is really adamant that he wants you, but there's one thing, he wants you to screen test,'" Garnett said. "I wasn't confident in an audition, I was like, 'What? This is my story.' When I read it I was like, 'This is me, why do I have to audition for something that's technically me?'"According to Garnett, him declining to do a screen test led to Lee moving on. Garnett wasn't the only NBA star Lee went out to.Kobe Bryant told <a href="https://www.si.com/vault/2013/10/21/106384521/reflections-on-a-coldblooded-career">Sports Illustrated in 2013</a> that he was offered the Shuttlesworth role by the director. And according to a <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/how-did-ray-allen-become-jesus-shuttlesworth-spike-lee-he-got-game/">2018 The Undefeated story</a> looking back on the movie, Lee also tried to get Stephon Marbury and Tracy McGrady.Though Garnett, who retired from the NBA in 2016, admits today he wasn't ready for acting back in 1998, he shows in "Uncut Gems" he has talent. In the movie, he becomes obsessed with an uncut black opal that celebrity jeweler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) lets him borrow after having a huge night during a Celtics playoff game. Garnett steals every scene he's in.Allen gives a great performance in "He Got Game," but it's interesting to think how Garnett would have played the role opposite Denzel Washington, who plays Shuttlesworth's father in the movie.However, Garnett says he's done with acting after "Uncut Gems." Well, maybe."Unless I play a villain," he said. "I want to be a villain and I want to be killed early [in the movie] so I don't have to stick around."

Kevin Garnett says he turned down the lead role in Spike Lee's 'He Got Game'

A24"Uncut Gems."<ul class="summary-list"><li>Though Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox had never starred in a movie before "Uncut Gems," they both were huge scene stealers.</li><li>Business Insider spoke to both of them about their performances in the Adam Sandler movie.</li><li>Garnett revealed that Spike Lee wanted him for the role of Jesus Shuttlesworth in his movie "He Got Game" before casting Ray Allen.</li><li>The NBA great also talked about the major superstitions he had while playing, including having a folded up $2 bill inside his sneaker his rookie year.</li><li>Fox explained the scene in "Uncut Gems" that hit closest to her own life's experiences.</li><li>"Uncut Gems" is currently playing in select theaters and will expand nationwide on Christmas day.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Adam Sandler is certainly the draw to go see Josh and Benny Safdie's "Uncut Gems." But one of the great things about this movie is that along with the explosive performance by Sandler as a New York City jeweler with an awful gambling addiction, there are equally great supporting roles that the Safdies surround their lead with.There's "Atlanta" star LaKeith Stanfield as Demany, who works with Sandler's Howard Ratner character to get famous people into his store. Idina Menzel takes a break from playing Elsa from the "Frozen" movies to star as Ratner's fed-up wife, Dinah. Sports talk radio legend Mike Francesa plays Ratner's foul-mouthed bookie, Anthony. And even The Weeknd shows up to play himself.But the two people who steal every scene they're in are Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox.Garnett, the retired NBA great, plays a version of himself who becomes completely obsessed with an Ethiopian opal that Ratner shows him. Garnett convinces Ratner to let him borrow it and he goes on to play an incredible game in the playoffs (the Safdies used actually NBA playoffs footage from Garnett's time as a Boston Celtic in the movie). For the rest of the movie, Ratner goes through an agonizing journey to get it back from Garnett.Fox, who in real life has done everything from being a fashion designer to a dominatrix, plays Ratner's girlfriend on the side, Julia. She works for Ratner and also lives in his apartment in the city. But things get rocky between the two when Ratner thinks Julia is cheating behind his back with The Weeknd.Both Garnett and Fox give fantastic performances, especially since neither had ever acted in a movie before.Business Insider sat down with both in New York City to talk about their unusual paths to get in the movie. During our conversation, Garnett revealed that years ago Spike Lee wanted him to play the lead role in "He Got Game," and shared the real superstitions he had as a player. Fox talked about the scene in the movie that felt the most real for her and her acting future.Warning: Minor spoilers about "Uncut Gems" discussed.Jason Guerrasio: Julia, it sounds like you are the sole survivor of early casting that was attached through the decade it took to make this movie.Julia Fox: Yeah, and I almost got thrown out.Guerrasio: Well, tell me that. Fox: When the studios got involved they wanted a real big name actress and Josh [Safdie] had to really fight for me. 300 people auditioned for the role, so it's a miracle that I got it. Guerrasio: Did you feel it was fate?Fox: Yeah. I feel now that no one could play that role. Kevin Garnett: I was about to say, no one could have been that. Fox: And same for Kevin and Adam. It was just so perfectly cast. Garnett: And I don't know anything about making movies, but I was just watching you and thinking, this is your first time acting? Are you serious? You killed it, Julia. Fox: Thank you.Guerrasio: And Kevin, in regards to you, at one point another former NBA star, Amar'e Stoudemire, was to play that role.Garnett: Yeah. At the time Amar'e was a Knick and the Safdies are Knick fans to the core. And they even went to Kobe Bryant because he did <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/sports/basketball/03knicks.html">61 in the Garden</a>. They were trying to surround it with the Knicks. And then finally with the project growing and it becoming something else they started to take on new solutions for trying to fill in the roles. Christopher Pasatieri/GettyImagesKevin Garnett as a Boston Celtic.Guerrasio: And you basically took Joel Embiid's role. Because production got pushed to when the NBA season started and he had to drop out.Fox: But they kept Joel's manager. That woman who sits with Kevin at the auction scene -Garnett: Yup, that's Joel's real manager. Listen, when I won the championship more odd things happened throughout that year than ever before. I had a kid that year. Just some of the oddest s--t happened and I won it. So when special things come you don't know what's going on. But it feels different, and that's what this felt like. Guerrasio: Had you had the acting bug previous, because Spike Lee came after you to play Jesus Shuttlesworth in "He Got Game."Garnett: Spike Lee wanted me to be in "He Got Game." He wanted me to be the guy. First time they brought it to me I ignored them because I'm a super shy guy. Guerrasio: You're not looking to be the guy on the poster.Garnett: F--k no. If it's something like me just walking through a shot, cool. I didn't have any confidence in what he was talking about. So I didn't really take him seriously. So I'm on vacation and my agent went with me and he told me, "Spike is really adamant that he wants you. But there's one thing, he wants you to screen test." And I wasn't confident in an audition, I was like, "What? This is my story." When I read it I was like, "This is me, why do I have to audition for something that's technically me?" And he didn't like that. He kind of had an ego in that. And I just passed on it.Guerrasio: Julia, you were attached for years to be in this movie, but take it a step back, what drove you to even want to act?Fox: I didn't want to act but just as a person I love to try new things and I never want to limit myself. If I'm scared of something there's more incentive for me to do it. I want to conquer everything that I do. So to me this was just another check off my list. I can say that I've done this. And now that I know that I love it and I know I can monetize this and I enjoy it, now I really want to pursue it. That has been the cool revelation. Jemal Countess/GettyJulia Fox at the 2019 Gotham Awards, where she was nominated in the breakthrough actor category.Guerrasio: So you are full on going for it. I believe you signed to WME?Fox: Yeah, we're starting to audition. And I'm actually pretty good at auditioning. I can't be a one-hit wonder, I have to follow this up. Guerrasio: There's no packing it up and going into the sunset. Garnett: That's me. Guerrasio: You're done.Garnett: I'm cool. I'm done. Unless I play a villain. I want to be a villain and I want to be killed early [in the movie] so I don't have to stick around.Guerrasio: One of my favorite scenes in the movie is you and LaKeith stuck in the security box at Howard's store. You are so good in that and if feels so natural. But was that hard to do, for you? Were you concerned if you could pull it off?Garnett: I'll be honest, a lot of stuff going on with Kevin, the character, paralleled my own life. I have been in a jewelry store with eight, nine people maybe one of them has a pistol on them. The scene with me and Adam [after the auction], I have sat with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Arabo">Jacob the Jeweler</a>, so I've been in these situations to where I can pull from. There have been game days where I have to do something. I hated to do anything on game day, but you have to get it done. So all those experiences I was using. Guerrasio: And a scene with you, Julia, that stands out is the fight you have with Adam outside of the club. Were you using past experiences for that scene?Fox: Yeah. I mean, we have all fought in a club. I'm kind of known for that. A24Adam Sandler and Julia Fox in "Uncut Gems."Garnett: [Laughs.]Fox: So for me that was easy and felt very real. I really lost myself in that moment. I was just in it. It felt more real than acting. Guerrasio: Kevin, does anything about this experience compare to the juice you got as a player?Garnett: Define "juice."Guerrasio: That feeling of playing an incredible game in front of a packed arena.Garnett: Performance is performance. Preparation. Timing. How you deliver. Passion. Energy. Those are the parallels. [Pause.] But there's nothing like 20,000 people giving you different emotions, either cheering or booing. But it was fun to watch how they aligned the NBA footage with the story. I was amazed by that. Guerrasio: Kevin's obsession of the opal is hilarious but probably not far off what some players will cling to when things are going good, right?Garnett: Oh yeah.Guerrasio: What's the craziest superstition you had?Garnett: Well, s--t. I used to have a two dollar bill. My rookie year, one of my best friends, Sam Mitchell, gave me a two dollar bill. He had to borrow some money from me and he said, "This two dollar bill is rare." And I was like, "Get the f--k out of here, you borrowed two grand from me you gonna give me a two dollar bill?" So I took the two dollar bill and folded it real small and put it in my shoe and played with it. A24(L-R) Kevin Garnett, LaKeith Stanfield, and Adam Sandler in "Uncut Gems."Guerrasio: So your whole rookie season you were playing with a two dollar bill in your shoe?Garnett: And I played better. Then I was in the starting five I starting putting a rubber band around my wrist. But my biggest was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before each game, because I would get hungry during the game. Once I started eating them I was playing like an animal. So that was my biggest superstition. Guerrasio: Let's end on this. Julia, what are your aspirations going forward?Fox: I just signed with WME and starting to go on auditions and tapings. So I don't really know, but I have a feeling it's going to be good. Guerrasio: And I believe you have some scripts in the drawer, right?Fox: Yeah.Garnett: Oh oh. Guerrasio: Start crafting that villain role for Kevin.Garnett: [Laughs.]Fox: Yeah. Garnett: But I have to get my head smoked off in the first 30 seconds of the movie.Fox: That's actually not bad. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nintendo-winning-video-games-fastest-selling-console-2019-3">Nintendo Switch is the fastest-selling console of the current generation - here's why Nintendo is dominating video games</a></h3>

Club fights, mystical $2 bills, and Spike Lee: We chatted with 'Uncut Gems' breakout stars Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Opal Lee is a 97-year-old former teacher who advocated to make Juneteenth a national holiday.</li><li>When Lee was 12 years old, her family was driven off their land.</li></ul>This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Opal Lee, a 97-year-old activist and former teacher who <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-biden-kneels-greet-94-year-old-juneteenth-activist-opal-lee-2021-6">advocated to make Juneteenth a national holiday</a>. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.I would describe my childhood as ideal. I was born in Marshall, Texas, surrounded by friends and neighbors. We were like a great, big family. If I did something wrong, I was chastised before I got home. And when I got home, my mom already knew about it.I didn't have the slightest idea about white folks because our community was all Black. The only white people I saw growing up were a salesman who sold housewares and clothing from his car and a family that ran a grocery store at the end of our street. So I had no animosity. I was a sheltered child. I didn't know white people until we got to Fort Worth.We moved to Fort Worth when I was 10 years old. The elementary school I attended was on a city dump, like many other buildings they had for Black children.My family bought a home in a neighborhood where we weren't wanted, but we didn't know that. On June 19, 1939, around 500 people started gathering across the street. The police were there, too. We'd only been in the house about four or five days.My parents sent us to our neighbors, and they left under the cover of darkness. Those people tore that place asunder. They did despicable things. They dragged the furniture out and burned it. It was horrible.My parents never, ever discussed what happened that night with us, not one time. It became buried in my psyche.<div type="image" title="Opal Lee stands in front of her window at her home in Fort Worth, Texas" height="661" width="1024" msid="107014786" hostid="261" sizebytes="51434"></div><h2>Regaining our land</h2>I went to Fort Worth's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/old-school-vintage-classroom-photos-evolution-2018-5">first Black high school</a> and graduated when I was 16 years old. I got married and had four children before I realized I would be raising my husband too. I got divorced after five years.I went back home to Marshall and went to Wiley College. I worked I don't know how many jobs to pay for college and to support my kids. I finished college in three and a half years because I couldn't stay for four, and became a teacher.One day years later, a friend of mine who works at the Star-Telegram, a local newspaper in Fort Worth, mentioned the land my family had bought all those years ago. I looked it up and saw the land was vacant.Lo and behold, I saw that Habitat for Humanity owned it. I had once been on Habitat's board, so I called up Gage Yager, the CEO, and asked him to sell the lot to me.He said no, they weren't going to sell it to me, because they were going to give it to me. I was so overwhelmed. I said, "Now I'm going to build a house on the land." Gage said, "No, we're going to build that house for you."I could have done a holy dance, but the kids say when I do that, I'm twerking, so I didn't do it.<h2>Becoming a committee of one</h2>When I successfully helped <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/juneteenth-freedom-emancipation-day-parade-pageants-galveston-celebration-2022-6">Juneteenth</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-voted-to-make-juneteenth-federal-holiday-heres-why-it-took-decades-2021-6">become a national holiday</a>, I was in hog heaven. To <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/juneteenth-federal-holiday-biden-signs-bill-employees-get-friday-off-2021-6">watch the president sign Juneteenth into law</a>, I was awestruck. I still am.<div type="image" title="President Joe Biden hands out a pen after signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, in the East Room of the White House." height="655" width="1024" msid="107014788" hostid="261" sizebytes="79222"></div>There's always someone who needs something. I'm a deaconess at my church, and I deliver boxes of food to people who need it twice a month.I want people to realize they can make themselves a committee of one to change somebody's mind, because if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love. It's left up to each of us.We know people who aren't on the same page as us, and we can change their minds. We just have to work at it. Three million people on the same page can turn this country around, and I think it needs a little turning.

My family was chased off our land by a racist mob. More than 80 years later, I own it again.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Republican Vivek Ramaswamy blasted Juneteenth while speaking in Iowa, calling the holiday "useless."</li><li>Two months ago, he praised the holiday, saying it should be a "celebration of the American dream."</li></ul>Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Saturday said that Juneteenth was a "useless" holiday, just months after stating that the holiday should be a "celebration of the American Dream."While speaking to voters at an event in Iowa, the key early voting caucus state, Ramaswamy told attendees that he would back a national voting holiday by removing another holiday."Single day voting, on Election Day. We will make Election Day a holiday. Cancel Juneteenth or one of the other useless ones we made up," he said. "We can't have like every day be a holiday, but we can cancel one of the other ones and make Election Day a holiday, paper ballots, and government-issued voter ID that matches the voter file."When NBC News <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FrlMrm74Ys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> Ramaswamy on whether he thought Juneteenth was a "useless" holiday, he replied: "I basically do."But when asked by the network whether Memorial Day and Veterans Day were "useless" holidays, Ramaswamy took the opposite view."I stand with the presumption of time-tested traditions," he said. "I think that if we made a national commemorative holiday for everything that's important that's happened in our history, we'd have no working days left. But I think the spirit of Juneteenth we already channel into other holidays like Martin Luther King Day. Like Presidents' Day.""We shouldn't have redundant holidays that celebrate overlapping purposes. It should have a distinctive purpose," he continued. "I think — let's be honest. The reason for making it a holiday was under political duress. It was a political hostage situation on the back of the death of George Floyd and I think that should not be how we create holidays." Ramaswamy's stance also comes two months after he <a href="https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1670802957565034496">wrote</a> a post on Twitter where he stated that Juneteenth is a "celebration of the American dream.""We don't just look back and flog ourselves. That's besides the point," he said. "What we celebrate is how far we've come, and as a first-generation American myself, you better believe that I'm proud of it. Happy Juneteenth, everybody."Juneteenth <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/annette-gordon-reed-interview-juneteenth-holiday-texas-end-slavery-book-2021-7">commemorates</a> June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers delivered news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, two months after the end of the Civil War and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.In June 2021, Congress passed legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday and President Joe Biden promptly signed the bill into law.Juneteenth is the first national holiday that has been established in the United States since the creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in 1983."Great nations don't ignore their most painful moments. They don't ignore those moments of the past. They embrace them. Great nations don't walk away," Biden said at the time during the signing ceremony at the White House.Many activists and longtime educators, notably 96-year-old Opal Lee, fought for decades for Juneteenth to become a federal holiday.Former Rep. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/will-hurd-republican-party-immigration-political-bludgeon-elections-2022-4">Will Hurd</a> of Texas — a fellow presidential candidate and one of the highest-profile Black Republicans in the country — blasted Ramaswamy over his remarks, telling NBC News that the contender "hopes to cancel a holiday that celebrates equality and freedom.""His gimmicks and shtick aren't serious," Hurd added.

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy calls Juneteenth a 'useless' holiday 2 months after he said the holiday should be a 'celebration of the American Dream'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President <keyword id="99719" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Biden">Joe Biden</keyword> on Thursday enacted a law making June 19 a <keyword id="400389" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="National-holiday">national holiday</keyword>.</li><li><keyword id="9375010" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="juneteenth">Juneteenth</keyword> celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.</li><li>The <keyword id="7173" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="house">House</keyword> and the <keyword id="6355284" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="senate">Senate</keyword> had passed the legislation this week.</li></ul>President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a bill into law to make June 19, known as Juneteenth, a national <keyword id="20983" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Holiday">holiday</keyword> celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.Vice President Kamala Harris opened the signing with remarks celebrating the Black activists who'd long campaigned to make Juneteenth a national holiday."National holidays are something important," Harris said. "These are days when we as a nation have decided to stop and take stock and often to acknowledge our history."Biden said the holiday recognized "America's original sin" and the country's capacity to "make a better version of ourselves." He and the vice president both recognized Opal Lee, a 94-year-old Black activist and retired educator who'd campaigned to make Juneteenth a holiday and is known as the grandmother of Juneteenth."Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and a promise of a brighter morning to come," Biden said. "This is a day of - in my view - profound weight and profound power. A day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take."Biden also mentioned his administration's major proposals to address the racial wealth gap and other forms of discrimination and to improve healthcare in Black communities.The House on Wednesday voted 415-14 to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-passes-bill-to-make-juneteenth-a-national-holiday-2021-6">pass the bipartisan legislation</a>, called the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. All no votes came from Republicans. The bill had won <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-senate-voted-unanimously-to-make-juneteenth-a-national-holiday-2021-6">unanimous support</a> in the Senate on Tuesday.The law created the US's 11th federally recognized holiday. The latest one, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was established nearly 40 years ago.Federal government employees will observe Juneteenth on Friday, the Office of Personnel Management <a href="https://twitter.com/USOPM/status/1405537166684352518">announced</a> on Thursday. Many private companies are expected to follow suit.Juneteenth, often referred to as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, or Emancipation Day, celebrates <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth">June 19, 1865</a>, when Union soldiers traveled to Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the region's 250,0000 enslaved African Americans were emancipated, thus effectively abolishing slavery in the last Confederate territory.The holiday has been celebrated since the late 1800s and had been recognized in 47 states and the District of Columbia for several years. But the push to make Juneteenth a national holiday gained momentum last year amid the nationwide anti-racism and social-justice protests in response to George Floyd's murder by a white Minneapolis police officer.Some private employers, including corporations like Nike and Target, made the day a paid holiday last year.While the legislation was overwhelmingly bipartisan, some Republican lawmakers had expressed concern about the cost of adding a federal holiday to the calendar. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, suggested the government remove a federal holiday before adding Juneteenth. Johnson ended his blockade of the bill on Tuesday, and the Senate passed it unanimously.

Biden makes Juneteenth a national holiday, giving federal employees Friday off

<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/juneteenth-jubilee"></a><div type="image" title="Junteenth march" height="1379" width="1838" msid="83608965" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="9375010" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="juneteenth">Juneteenth</keyword> was a holiday in 47 states for years and for over 40 years in Texas where it started.</li><li>This week <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> passed a Juneteenth bill, leaving just the president's signature to make the federal holiday official</li><li>Attempts to make it a permanent federal holiday have been repeatedly shut down by political debates</li></ul>To many Black Americans, Juneteenth holds far more historical and cultural significance than other official holidays. Often called Emancipation Day, or Freedom Day, Juneteenth is a symbol of both generational trauma and progress in America from its long history of slavery. Although 47 states and the District of Columbia already recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, efforts at federal recognition have stalled in Congress year after year, until now.After years of pushback from Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, who "objected to the cost and lack of debate," the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act gained bipartisan <a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/(2.25.2021)%20Juneteenth%20Final%20Bill.pdf">support</a>, with over 50 co-sponsors of the bill in Congress. On Tuesday the bill passed unanimously in the Senate and again in the House vote 415-14 on Wednesday. The bill now awaits President Joe Biden's signature.While momentum for the holiday grew in the last year of racial unrest, the campaign for Juneteenth to be a federal holiday is nothing new.<h2>Simple process with complicated <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword></h2>Currently, there are 10 <a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/#url=2021">paid holidays</a> for federal employees. These permanent holidays came about through a mix of years (sometimes decades) of petitioning by congress members and one-time executive orders that were eventually signed into law. Only four have been added to the federal calendar in the past 100 years, the last being Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Senator Johnson, and many other opponents' opposition to the bill, pinpoint the cost of creating a federal holiday."While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter," Johnson said in a <a href="https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/2021/6/senator-johnson-statement-on-juneteenth">statement</a> on Tuesday.But history <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/business-july-dec01-labor_day_9-2">suggests</a> that they depend more on the amount of political pressure, convenience, and willpower than the philosophy behind them.For example, Labor Day was only given federal holiday status as an election-year compromise from President Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s, after a series of union-led strikes threatened to undermine his presidency. By then the holiday was already recognized in several states and had nationwide support from workers.Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was recognized by states almost immediately after the Civil Rights leader's assassination. John Conyers, a former Democratic Congressman from Michigan, lobbied Congress for 15 years before the bill was passed. Columbus Day was implemented by President Roosevelt to stem the rise of anti-Italian immigrant sentiments in the country at the time. While political debates and bureaucracy can make federal holiday proposals difficult, the technical process to institute them is fairly straightforward. Anyone can make a petition and gather signatures or connect with their local congressperson to write a bill adding the celebration to the federal calendar. With enough <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/06/how-to-declare-a-federal-holiday.html">support</a> the bill is submitted before Congress and is either passed or voted down. The president can also declare a one-time holiday by executive order, although the White House hasn't indicated whether President Biden will do so.More recently, petitions for new federal holidays were submitted through the White House administration's 'We the People' site. In recent years the site has become clogged with a backlog of thousands of proposals for new national holidays and requests to dismiss or change existing ones. The site was temporarily suspended under the Trump administration and now redirects to the main White House website. <div type="image" title="Opal Lee sitting on a chair and smiling" height="2019" width="2698" msid="83608967" hostid="261"></div>Opal Lee, also known as Fort Worth's "Grandmother of Juneteenth", is a 94-year old activist who has been lobbying for the national holiday since 2016. After witnessing the growth of the celebrations in Texas and it's spread to other states, Lee was inspired by the unity and reconciliation that Juneteenth signified in her community and joined the growing number of advocacy groups bringing it to the national stage.After hearing of the bill's passage in the Senate, Lee told Insider she was ecstatic and hopeful that the bill would pass quickly through the House vote. "I'm glued to the set," she said. "It's gonna be a wonderful way to work together to get rid of the disparities that are keeping us from being free. Joblessness, homelessness, healthcare, schools that need to tell the truth..I'm looking forward to it."Lee, a former teacher and prominent organizer of Juneteenth events in Texas, has been vocal about using Juneteenth celebrations as an opportunity to educate communities about Black history and spark deeper conversations about social justice and equity.When asked why recognition of Juneteenth is so important now after over a year of nationwide protests, Lee said, "We want those people who are protesting to join us in making this a better United States. I believe if they see that this bill passes that they understand that there's hope in getting rid of disparities. Working together I'm sure that we can erase them."Several other advocacy groups, lawmakers and nonprofit organizations have lobbied Congress for years to make Juneteenth happen. Along with local planning groups, The National Juneteenth Observance Foundation has been advocating since the early 90s.<h2>Costs implications of federal holidays</h2>Though there have been several presidential proclamations <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44865.pdf">honoring</a> Juneteenth, its absence from the official federal calendar means that these homages are mostly symbolic. The National Taxpayers' Union Foundation, a nonprofit and nonpartisan group, estimates that it would cost American taxpayers $918 million a year to approve the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Then there are the federal employees - like TSA agents and secret service - who still work on the day."They are eligible for premium pay which in the past has been roughly 7 percent of the base holiday pay," Demian Brady, Vice President of Research at the NTUF told Insider.While a benefit to workers, the cost to American taxpayers is often one of the biggest hurdles to jump in Congressional budget negotiations. The NTUF used payroll data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and calculated the cost in wages the additional day that federal workers are paid but do not have to work. The cost per day of the federal civilian workforce (excluding the Postal Service) is $858 million.Proponents of the Juneteenth bill, however, counter that the costs to taxpayers would be offset by the boost to the economy that holidays usually generate through tourism and increased consumer spending from retail sales."Under normal conditions, a new holiday weekend in June would spur 46 million Americans to travel, which would generate $17.4 billion in travel spending-directly supporting 143,000 jobs and producing $2.7 billion in government tax revenue," Tori Barnes, U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy said in a press release. Besides costs, arguments against the bill have focused on conflicting proposals to replace an existing holiday, like Columbus Day, with Juneteenth. <h2>Why federal recognition is so important</h2><div type="image" title="From left, Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Steve Williams, president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, and Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., pose with the Juneteenth flag in front of the Capitol building in Washington D.C." height="1884" width="2512" msid="83608971" hostid="261"></div>It took 15 years for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be nationally recognized, even though it was celebrated in many states for years beforehand. And similar to Juneteenth, MLK Day had nationwide support and momentum in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. As debates about systemic racism continue to take center stage, there is a heightened awareness of Juneteenth and how other symbols of American culture reflect the darker sides of the nation's history.The ongoing debates about the utility and meaning of existing holidays, like Columbus Day and Thanksgiving, have drawn attention to how holidays aren't just about money. Barnes added they are markers of identity and culture. "In the end, it's about appreciating our shared history and collective future, while furthering our commitment to listen, to educate, and to engage in necessary conversations," she said.

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Historian Annette Gordon-Reed on Juneteenth: 'It has been just amazing to see the holiday happen'

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Biden got down on one knee to welcome the 94-year-old 'grandmother' of Juneteenth to the White House

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Jason Lee calls the backlash aimed at Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors a 'witch hunt'

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Kevin Garnett says he turned down the lead role in Spike Lee's 'He Got Game'

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Club fights, mystical $2 bills, and Spike Lee: We chatted with 'Uncut Gems' breakout stars Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox

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My family was chased off our land by a racist mob. More than 80 years later, I own it again.

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GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy calls Juneteenth a 'useless' holiday 2 months after he said the holiday should be a 'celebration of the American Dream'

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Biden makes Juneteenth a national holiday, giving federal employees Friday off

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Congress just voted to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Here's why the campaign took decades.

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