06/19/2026
Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day for many Black Americans and while our country gets ready to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence in just a few short weeks, some in our government and society have been working hard to take away many of our freedoms that generations have fought for. We're reminded of these words from Coretta Scott King, “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”
As we near America’s big birthday, we’re also seeing a blatant attempt to erase and rewrite American history into a more sanitized and romanticized retelling. We're reminded of these words from Nikole Hannah Jones, “The history of slavery is the history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it.”
So as we celebrate Juneteenth today and get ready to celebrate America’s 250 years of independence in a few weeks, we recognize that the historical legacy of Juneteenth is that it shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times. As an organization, that’s a value we hold onto, it’s in the very fabric of the work we do everyday, and we hold onto these words from Stacy Abrams, “This Juneteenth, we celebrate the emancipation of Black Americans and honor those who fought for this nation to live up to its founding ideals of liberty and equality for all. May we honor their legacies through action - building a world fueled by justice and steeped in equity.”
