JUNETEENTH: A COMMEMORATION OF FREEDOM, A CALL TO CONSCIOUSNESS

Written by Connie Summers, Chief People and Culture Officer

Juneteenth is more than a celebration. It is a solemn reminder of a brutal chapter in American history and a call to remember the value and fragility of freedom.

It marks the day—June 19, 1865—when enslaved Africans in Texas finally learned of their emancipation, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. For generations of Black Americans, Juneteenth has been a day to honor resilience, resistance, and the long-overdue promise of freedom. But it is also a day that asks all of us to confront a deeper truth: the enduring legacy of a system built on the violent dehumanization of people for profit and power.

Over 400 years ago, men, women, and children were violently uprooted from their homelands and brought to a foreign land — not as immigrants, but as property. Stripped of their names, languages, cultures, and humanity, generations of African people were enslaved and commodified, reduced to cogs in the gears of a machine designed to benefit a select group. Families were torn apart without hesitation.

Mothers robbed of autonomy over their own bodies. Fathers and sons sold off to serve plantations. Children ripped from their mothers’ arms and sold as assets, not recognized as human beings by those who enslaved them.

This is not only the story of enslaved Africans—it is the story of what happens when a society begins to deny the humanity of others based on skin color, ancestry, language, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other difference that doesn’t conform to the dominant narrative. When power and profit become more important than people, injustice becomes institutionalized. And when that injustice is ignored, excused, or buried, the foundation of freedom for everyone begins to erode.

Depriving any group of their civil and human rights is not a neutral act—it is an act of violence. It is a denial of the basic principles upon which this nation claims to stand. No rationale—economic, political, or otherwise—can ever justify such cruelty. To celebrate Juneteenth without acknowledging this reality is to hollow out its meaning.

Juneteenth is also an opportunity. A chance for us—as a nation and as individuals—to reflect not just on how far we’ve come, but on how much further we must go. It’s a chance to examine what freedom means for each of us. It’s a reminder that freedom is not inevitable—it must be won, protected, and shared. When we see the rights of any group being stripped away—whether by policy, prejudice, or silence—we must act.

Why? Because it reinforces a fundamental truth: injustice to one is truly injustice to all.

So, for those who have the privilege of a day off on Juneteenth, take a moment to think about what it means to live in a place where you can care for your family, love who you love, speak your truth, and walk freely.

Then pause and remember that today, more than ever, there are those for whom those freedoms are still out of reach. Honor Juneteenth not only by commemorating the past, but by committing to a future where freedom and justice are not selective, but universal.

Freedom delayed is freedom denied, and freedom denied to one endangers the freedom of all.

Let Juneteenth be more than a moment in time. Let it be a mirror—and a movement.