A few days before the World Cup, I cast my predictions for the tournament, along with my colleagues. One of my answers received significantly more reaction than any other.
But my response to the final question — Which game are you most excited about? — stirred the waters more than my theory that Mexico will be the most successful host nation.
“Brazil and Haiti are playing on Juneteenth,” I wrote. “If you know, you know.” It is about Black history.
Brazil is home to the largest population of people of African descent outside of Africa, while Haiti became the first sovereign Black nation in the world after fighting against France for independence in 1804.
The Group C fixture falls today, on June 19, which is celebrated in the U.S. as Juneteenth. For those of us who celebrate Juneteenth, we will still savor the football of this game.
In Brazil, in Haiti. In Oakland and Atlanta and Washington D.C., and in all of those places and more, we will see our complexions, hair textures, swagger, and broad noses reflected back at us as players sauce the ball, and maybe even dance, across the pitch.
And we will rejoice in what feels like divine order that these two teams, with their rich histories, should meet each other on Juneteenth.
