Juneteenth timing intersects with Pride Month. Here's how that looks for one Nebraskan with ties to both

Kameron Neeman is the board president of Out Nebraska as well as a Black Lives Matter organizer. He said the June celebrations for both these aspects of his identity intersect, but not always in the way he wishes they would.

Kameron Neeman: Pride was led by a Black trans woman who went down in history for throwing stones at police, and that's how the movement started. And it happened during June, during Juneteenth month, where Black people became free. And a lot of that is the same. You know, it's two movements that... it's the reason why I'm able to have the freedom I have today as a Black, gay man.

Kassidy Arena: Juneteenth is the last day that it took the last enslaved Americans to actually find out that slavery was abolished. So it's this really important day in history, not just for Black communities, but for our state, for our country. How does that intersection look when you're celebrating this momentous occasion in our history, specifically for Black communities, as well as Pride Month, when they're both happening at the same time?

Neeman: Yeah, I wish that more of it could happen together. I wish that the Pride Month and the Juneteenth events could come together more, you know? There's a lot of oppression that happens for Black people, and there's a lot of oppression that happens for Black, queer people as well. And my hope is, you know, what I've been trying to make my goal, and something that I live by, is getting something to where those two could be together.

Arena: So when we're talking about identity and all of these intersections that you just brought up, how does your identity become complicated when you bring in all of those different intersections of both racial identity and just geographic location and all of that? How does that look for you?

Neeman: Yeah, you know, I don't want to speak for all Black, queer people, but it is...there are some challenges to it, especially with our families. Sometimes just culturally, that's just not accepting in the families, and it's hard for us because we're like, you know, we're receiving oppression from a lot of different places.

Arena: Personally, do you think that there could be more of an effort to combine Pride events with the commemoration of Juneteenth?

Neeman: I do. I really do. That was a hard part, especially in my jobs that I've had in the last decade. I've always had to have a presence at Juneteenth and Pride due to my work.

Arena: Yeah, and for me, at least, you know, when I'm doing one event over here and another over here, it's kind of like I put on my hat for this event, and then I take that hat off and I put my new hat on for the new event. Is that kind of how you feel when you're juggling these two aspects that are separate?

Neeman: Yeah. That is definitely how I feel. It was not only frustrating, but you know, it's like you have to try to work with both and try to give both of them your attention. I really want to see where we could have more diversity in Pride in Lincoln...That is something that I'm very proud of with the two communities that I belong to, that they're going to let anybody in.

Arena: I wanted to ask you one other thing I noticed: you said 'my two communities.' Do you see those two communities as separate?

Neeman: Oh for sure.

Arena: Why?

Neeman: I don't know...I see them as separate, and I have to separate it a lot. You know, sometimes code switch a little bit as well. But I've noticed that, you know, around here, it's not terrible. And that makes me very proud. You know, we might be here in the Midwest and in Nebraska, but I feel like it's not terrible. But, yeah, the communities are most definitely separate. And again, that's where I see it. And I'm like, 'But we're the same!' And hopefully, you know, within having these kinds of events in the near future that that could be changed.

Arena: That was going to be your next question: Do you ever see that changing one day?

Neeman: I might be a little older [laughs]. But yeah, I believe that this next generation of kids will change us. I think that I have full faith in the next gen.