Juneteenth: Momentum. Memory. Movement.

Juneteenth, or freedom day, is one of bittersweet celebrations. The day, June 19th 1865, marks the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to free the remaining enslaved people in the United States. While it was a momentous, and likely joyous, occasion for those enslaved, freedom for slaves in Texas came two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into order. As painful as the the history of slavery is, I’m always inspired by the resilience of my ancestors — which is why I honor and celebrate them on this day.

Growing up, Juneteenth was never a part of my history books or something that my family celebrated. It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned about the importance of Juneteenth, and that really got me thinking about how and why this part of our history has been suppressed. Part of me thinks there’s shame associated with how Juneteenth came to be. Everyone wants to talk about the Emancipation Proclamation and when slaves were freed, but no one wants to read the fine print. It’s hard for many people to reconcile that the original proclamation only freed slaves in the Confederate states, and then only as far as Union troops travelled — not reaching Texas until two years later. This is not the narrative we first learned about in our history books. I can imagine the footnotes reading: *but in fact, slavery didn’t come to an end until two years later. Sorry about that!

In any case, I’ve been making up for lost time, learning more about Juneteenth, the history of slavery, and taking the time to properly celebrate my ancestors each year. Since the racial reckoning that was 2020, more resources have been unearthed and organizations — corporate and otherwise — have begun to really invest in Juneteenth. As you can imagine, not everyone understands the assignment and there has been some backlash in recent years around companies profiting off of the holiday.

While I love that more people are acknowledging and celebrating Juneteenth, I worry that the importance of this day has become another “day off”, one synonymous with a long weekend or another summer holiday. One of my favorite things to do on Juneteenth is to rewatch the season 4 premiere of ABC’s Black·_ish._The show's creator Kenya Barris dedicates the entire episode to education and celebration with musical storytelling of the accounts of Juneteenth, beautifully mixed with the current realities of Black America, and how families choose to acknowledge and celebrate the day. This episode is a reminder that we must continue to honor the history of Juneteenth, understand its importance, and ensure the next generation isn’t kept in the dark.

This year, Juneteenth falls on a Sunday and will be observed on Monday, June 20th. And while yes, this gives folks in the US a long weekend, I urge you to think about making your day off meaningful by finding at least one action or educational resource that can further the conversation around Juneteenth.

At Snyk, we feel strongly about the power of social impact and how individuals and organizations can create long-term change. Our Black@Snyk resource group has created a Juneteenth impact campaign to raise awareness and inspire action. In this campaign, we’ve outlined educational resources you can read and actions you can take to learn more about the significance of this day and our history. We also have a partnership with Deed that allows employees to give to organizations that align with their values, and Snyk will match employee donations to eligible social impact charities at 1:1 up to $500 USD/year. So, for this year’s Juneteenth, I'm wishing you a freedom day filled with honoring memories of those who came before us, being part of the growing momentum, and movement towards real change.