Nerdology 101: Juneteenth

Hey, hey! Welcome back to Nerdology 101. This week, we’ll be focused on Juneteenth.

What’s Junteenth?

Juneteenth is a celebration about the freedom of Black people. Following the Emancipation Proclimation, which was made effective in 1863, many enslaved people were not freed. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, two years after, when Union soldiers (remember that Union soldiers weren’t all white. You should not be interpreting this as a bunch of white people “rescuing” Black people) arrived in Gavelston Bay, TX, that the 250,000 Black people still enslaved in Texas were freed. We call the anniversary of that day Juneteenth. It is a national holiday, but tends to go without as much recognition as many others. You can learn more about it HERE.

Oh, that’s cool. It sounds like a great reason to celebrate.

It should be, but celebrating freedom can be a bit hard for Black people given the context of the moment we're living in. Many likely find themselves wondering if they’re free at all.

What context?

Already this June, we’ve seen two horrific situations unfold in a way that deeply impacts the Black community.

Karmelo Anthony

First, we’ll speak about the case of Karmelo Anthony, a 19-year-old sentenced to 35 years in prison for stabbing someone. For context, both Anthony and the person he stabbed were 17 at the time of the conflict and this happened on school grounds at a track meet. THIS article documents the court trial. Anthony didn’t deny that he stabbed Austin, rather his defense argued that he did so in self-defense. Meanwhile, the prosecution said it was an “unjustified, provoked murder.” In this trial, the jury had the option to lessen the charge to manslaughter too.

Here’s where the problem comes in, though. Anthony’s defense makes some good points. First, the knife Anthony had was like a 6-in-1 tool knife. If you’re premeditating a stabbing, that’s not the knife you grab. Second, Anthony was under the tent first, meeting with a friend he spotted there. Second, it’s clear there was physical conflict prior to the knife being used. The prosecutions own video analyst said it looked like someone was pushed (though who was pushed isn’t a question we can answer). So, what we know from that is that Anthony was in a physical altercation, which is typically when one would feel the need to defend themselves. It was during this physical conflict that Anthony stabbed Austin one time. After, he didn’t try to attack anyone else. He threw the knife away, walked away from the other kids and out of the tent, and did not resist arrest when the police arrived. That doesn’t sound angry. It doesn’t sound planned. It doesn’t sound unjustified. It sounds like a difficult situation that would have triggered fight or flight responses and been difficult for anyone, especially a 17-year-old.

It seems wholly reasonable that this could be self-defense. The fact that it could have been means that the jury shouldn’t have convicted him of murder. We often forget this, but the prosecution is supposed to carry the burden of proof, not the defendant. If there is ANY reasonable doubt, the jury shouldn’t be convicting at all, let alone with a murder charge when they had the option to choose a lesser charge like manslaughter. So, why did they do it? Well, I can’t say. I wasn’t there. What we do know is that the jury was all white, so no matter what happened between the jurors, we know it happened from the perspective of people with different racial experiences, which influences how they would have judged. It also influences their ability, or lackthereof, to understand Anthony’s perspective in any real way. Nevertheless, they sentenced Karmelo to 35 years on June 9th, 2026.

Cyrus Carmack-Belton

The second impactful situation the Black community is dealing with is the trial of Rick Chow, who shot and killed Cyrus Carmack-Belton. For context, this happened in South Carolina. Rick is a 61 year old Asian man and Cyrus was a 14 year old Black kid. There is footage of this entire situation, both inside and outside the store. The situation began when Cyrus entered a store owned by Rick. Rick followed Cyrus around the store from the time he entered. Cyrus opens a fridge, looks around for a minute, then starts to leave. Rick stops him. Cyrus shows Rick that there’s nothing in his pockets despite Rick having no justification for his accusation, then Cyrus walks out of the store peacefully. Rick and two others follow Cyrus out of the store with a rifle in hand. Cyrus spots them following and starts running for his life. In fact, his shoe flies off in the video and he’s still running. With Cyrus’s back turned as he ran away, Rick shot him. Rick was found not guilty by yet another all white jury on account of “self defense”.

I shouldn’t even have to say that this is bullshit. This is the most simple, uncomplicated case possible. There’s video of the whole situation. There’s no room for debate or doubt. In order to be defending yourself, you have to be getting attacked. We know for a fact that Rick wasn’t being attacked because there’s video showing Cyrus running away. It’s so simple that I can’t even say anything else about it because there is literally no other perspective to give. Yet, Rick Chow will face no legal consequences. His court decision was rendered June 1st.

Wow…

Right? It’s striking, isn’t it? One Black kid pleading self defense after stabbing someone he was already actively in a physical conflict with is sentenced to 35 years while another Black kid is dead and his killer will face legal consequences after claiming self defense even though there was no physical conflict and the kid was running with his back turned—the two decisions rendered barely a week apart, both in red states, both by all white juries. The message it sends to the Black community: “You can’t defend yourself in any situation, but we’ll accept any one claiming self defense if they kill you.”

This message is horrifying and unacceptable. How is that freedom? How is that justice? How is that having equal rights? It doesn’t make sense. The racism that left Black people’s ancestors in chains is the same racism that killed Malcom X and Dr. King and the same racism that killed Cyrus and caged Karmelo. It needs to stop. According to THIS article from the Princeton Legal Journal, this is what we’re up against:

1. United States accounts for approximately 25% of the world’s prison population, despite accounting for just 5% of the world’s population overall.

2. Cost of incarceration in the United States of America sits at approximately $80 billion per year for the taxpayer.

3. Corporations within the private prison industry are estimated to bring in an estimated $374 million annually.

Private prison industry is opportunely positioned to make a profit from cheap prison labor. The labor, however, is exploitative not only to incarcerated individuals but also to taxpayers. At play within this legal situation is the profit of corporations complicit in the prison industry, the well-being of incarcerated individuals, and the financial implications for the taxpayer.

That’s called SLAVERY. And its happening to who? Black people. THIS page by Prison Policy Initiative, compiles information from various sources that can show you how we know its happening disproportionally and unfairly to Black people. Rather than explaining that here, I’m going to place a list of ways that you can help this Juneteenth, as well as during all the other days of the year.

How can I help?

Help via financial contribution to organizations. Here’s some suggestions:

NAACP (fights for the Black communities interests in many ways),

The Innocence Project (helps people who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes),

National Bail Out (helps bail out people who are only in jail because they can’t afford the bail).

Help via financial contributions to Black people directly. Here’s some suggestions:

Shop Black-owned businesses like Blerd,

Read books by Black authors,

Listen to music by Black artists.

Help by speaking up. Here’s some suggestions:

Write about it.

Post about it.

Talk to your friends, family, and community about it.

Help by standing up. Here’s some suggestions:

If you are at a protest and you are white, position yourselves at the front of the crowd if you can. I know it’s scary, but you being at the front could actually be the thing that prevents attacks from police and keeps the protesters from being attacked. Not to say it will definitely stop them, but there’s a better chance of them holding back if they see a slew of white people. To be clear, you will be putting your safety at risk. Also to be clear, Black people have had to put their safety at risk to fight against these things for centuries. That’s part of protesting.

Gravitate towards movements you notice are being led, planned, or heavily supported by Black people.

Disrupt stuff. Sorry, but you can’t protest and follow all the rules. I’m not saying you have to be violent. I’m saying you have to be a problem. Examples of extremely diruptive but totally peaceful protestors:

MLK Jr.,

Ghandi,

Mandela.

Shut down roads, train stations, shopping centers, and anything that will make life extremely inconvenient while also costing the people in power a ton of money. That’s disruption. A great example is the vets who staged that sit in at Union Station. That’s effective protest and would work if it happened on a larger scale.

Keep Learning:

Here’s some awesome Black educators who you can learn more about racism, resistance, and intersectionality from:

https://www.instagram.com/theconsciouslee/

https://www.instagram.com/thejaampod/

https://www.instagram.com/hopegiselle/

https://www.instagram.com/diamondpostedthat/

That’s about all I have for today. I hope you learned something from this segment of Nerdology 101. I’ll be back for another next Friday. Until then, have a nerdy week!