From Juneteenth to Costa Rica: A Story of Freedom and Nuance

Happy Freedom Day!

Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated every year on June 19th to mark the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned they were free — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

We’ve seen freedom delayed, denied, and outright stolen from marginalized communities around the world for generations. And this year, that truth feels even more blatant.

I recently returned from my first trip to Costa Rica, and I absolutely loved it. Not only was the food delicious (I could definitely eat rice and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), but I learned so much about the rich history and culture of the country.

Our amazing tour guide, Adrian — aka Rago — taught us that Costa Rica has no military. None. Instead, about 20% of every citizen’s income goes toward education and healthcare, making both essentially free for Costa Ricans. How powerful is that?

Meanwhile, in the U.S., affordable healthcare remains inaccessible for many, our education system is constantly under attack, and, according to my research, in FY 2023, defense accounted for 13% of the federal budget — the second-largest category of government spending.

We also learned that although Costa Rica only makes up 0.03% of the world’s landmass, it holds about 5% of the planet’s biodiversity. That’s wild. There are over 148 species of frogs alone living in that one small country.

But as much as we marveled at the beauty and brilliance of Costa Rica and its people, we also witnessed the nuance.

Costa Rica is internationally celebrated for its sustainability, with 98% of its electricity coming from renewable sources like hydropower and wind. In May 2024, the country even banned all of its state-run zoos, shifting toward sanctuaries and rescue centers instead. These are visionary moves.

And yet, Costa Rica is also the world’s leading exporter of pineapples — and almost all of them are shipped out. Most local people, including the farmers who grow them, rarely get to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Pineapple monocropping has raised major concerns, too — both human and environmental. The widespread use of harsh chemicals and pesticides threatens the land, the water, and the health of the people who live closest to these plantations.

In just six rainy days, I learned so much about the good, the real, the raw, and the complicated truths of Costa Rica. Our guide Rago, a proud Costa Rican, didn’t sugarcoat anything. He told us the full story — not to shame, but to ground us. He could have skipped over the impact of pineapple monocropping, but he didn’t. And I respect him deeply for that.

Being in Costa Rica, experiencing the fullness of a place and its people, reminded me of the fullness we reclaim when we tell our own stories.

When we honor the complexity of who we are — our past, our present, our contradictions, our tenderness — we begin to heal. We uncover memories we forgot or tucked away. We witness the layered truth of who we’ve been, who we are, and who we’re becoming.

And when you do that kind of work — when you approach it honestly, with curiosity and vulnerability — you give yourself permission to imagine. You begin to imagine a new way of being. Not from a place of routine or performance, but from a place of gratitude, grace, and innerstanding.

Summer J. Robinson

Publisher. Filmmaker. CEO. Building Silver Bangles Productions, a multidisciplinary storytelling agency committed to telling and elevating stories that inspire Afrikan diasporic intergenerational healing. We do this through book publications, TV, Film, and Documentary productions, programming, and education.