Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy
    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Juneteenth, Tulsa, and a moment of racial reckoning in America

    On June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas finally learned they were free. Juneteenth, a commemoration of that moment 155 years ago, has been called America’s second Independence Day.

    • rss
    • apple-podcasts
    • spotify
    • Share
    By Madeleine Brand • Jun 19, 2020 • 15m Listen

    On June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas finally learned they were free. Juneteenth, a commemoration of that moment 155 years ago, has been called America’s second Independence Day. And today it’s drawing more attention as the nation continues to grapple with systemic racism.

    This year, the holiday comes the day before President Trump holds what’s being billed as a “comeback rally” in Tulsa. And it will happen just blocks away from the site of one of the worst racial massacres in the nation’s history, where white mobs burned down a thriving Black community, killing hundreds in 1921.

    The full episode

    1 of 4
    Celebrating Juneteenth as America grapples with systemic racism
    1. 0:00Juneteenth, Tulsa, and a moment of racial reckoning in AmericaYou’re reading this
    2. 15:37Congresswoman Karen Bass on the House’s plan for national police reform
    3. 27:22Named for Confederate general, California’s Fort Bragg considers a change
    4. 35:40Movie Reviews: ‘Miss Juneteenth’ film is ‘bathed in authenticity’
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michell Eloy

      Former Producer/Line Editor, Press Play

    • KCRW placeholder

      Rosalie Atkinson

      Associate producer

    • KCRW placeholder

      James Goodwin

      civil rights attorney and publisher of Tulsa’s black-owned weekly newspaper

    • KCRW placeholder

      Daina Ramey Berry

      University of Texas at Austin and author of “A Black Women’s History of the United States"

      NewsNational

    The full episode

    1 of 4
    Celebrating Juneteenth as America grapples with systemic racism
    1. 0:00Juneteenth, Tulsa, and a moment of racial reckoning in AmericaYou’re reading this
    2. 15:37Congresswoman Karen Bass on the House’s plan for national police reform
    3. 27:22Named for Confederate general, California’s Fort Bragg considers a change
    4. 35:40Movie Reviews: ‘Miss Juneteenth’ film is ‘bathed in authenticity’
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand