For These New Orleans Nurses, Every Day Embodies Juneteenth
For Terry Mogilles, a registered nurse in New Orleans, Juneteenth is a chance for celebrations while, at the same time, it’s a day to confront both the historical and current struggles for African Americans. The day commemorating Black emancipation from U.S. slavery embodies the realities of struggle and the power of community.
“I’m honored we’re able to take part in ancestral celebrations,” said Mogilles, whose daughter and granddaughter perform in African and ancestral dancing around New Orleans as part of the local community’s Juneteenth events. “It’s good being a grandma watching my grandchildren understand and be immersed in the culture. But I’m still pained by the circumstances that we’re having to celebrate the end of an oppressive system itself.”
For Mogilles, who works at University Medical Center (UMC) in New Orleans, Juneteenth is a day emblematic of the deep contradictions at the heart of so many unjust systems. It’s a joyful anniversary of liberation that also grapples with the weight of injustice, past and present, that African Americans fought against and, in many cases, are still fighting for liberation from.
“Hatred and racism are still prevalent,” Mogilles explained, citing not just the realities of intergenerational trauma, but the ongoing injustices all around us. “It’s in the education system, the criminal justice system, the financial systems, and, for us as nurses, in the health care system. We’re confronted with disparities every day, especially working in a large, urban hospital. We’re confronted with the fact that there are two systems of health care.”
The legacies of slavery, racism, segregation, and injustice live loudly in a city like New Orleans. But just as loud are the echoes of resistance and resilience that continue to resound. Mogilles said her family will be dancing at Juneteenth celebrations all over the city, including Congo Square, which was once the only place in town where Black New Orleanians could congregate for social activity. With their options for recreation limited, Congo Square became a nexus of Black community traditions, including dance and music, that continue today.
Mogilles did not grow up celebrating Juneteenth, but wishes she had. It wasn’t until time spent in Houston, Texas, in the ’80s that she learned of Juneteenth, thanks to Houston’s proximity to Galveston, where Juneteenth originated, honoring a day in 1865 when federal troops reached the area to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. While only recently declared a federal holiday, the anniversary’s traditions run deep.
Lauren Waddell has been a nurse for about eight years and is a colleague of Mogilles at UMC, where she’s a nurse practitioner in neurosurgery. She was first exposed to Juneteenth while attending a historically Black college. Since then, she’s embraced the day as a celebration and a chance for education.
“Juneteenth gives us a moment to love ourselves and each other, to acknowledge struggles we’ve overcome and continue to overcome, to embrace our history, and to educate others on what still happens in the present,” Waddell said. “Juneteenth — yeah, it’s a holiday, but we still face challenges daily. I think what’s important is educating non-Black people daily on how to support us on days that aren’t acknowledged on the calendar.”
“I think we kind of celebrate Juneteenth every day just based on where I am in my life,” Waddell added. “By participating in things at work and continuing to be a voice for others, especially with our union now — that helps me to celebrate what we’ve overcome on a daily basis.”
Both Waddell and Mogilles say the recent successful unionization campaign at their hospital has been another reminder of the powerful change possible through shared struggle.
“Working with our union has definitely highlighted the intersectionality between races, socioeconomic status, gender, and even geographical locations,” Waddell explained, sharing that, for examples, nurse can advocate for tube feedings and appropriate supplies for patients who might need to recover in food deserts without access to fresh fruit and protein.
Mogilles, who works in the UMC orthoclinic now and spent years as a community health center nurse, has a deep knowledge of many of her patients’ complex and interlocking challenges. Now that UMC nurses are fighting for their first contract, she’s seen how unionization brought people from all walks of life together in New Orleans.
“The interesting thing with our union for me has been the diversity and the commonality that has transcended beyond age, gender, race, politics — it’s been exciting for me as a nurse, a seasoned nurse of many decades to see this coming together behind this,” said Mogilles, who has 45 years of experience as a nurse. “I’ve been used to fighting and advocating, but finding that everybody understands we’re fighting for patients and our community, which at UMC is predominantly African American, is an amazing, exciting thing to see.”
