Today is Juneteenth, a holiday that should be more widely observed.
It doesn’t mark the date of Lincoln’s proclamation that freed the slaves, nor does it occur on the day that the 13th amendment was passed. Both were overdue and urgent and important steps forward. Instead, it commemorates the day that a last group of slaves (outside of Galveston, TX) heard that they had been freed years earlier.
Holidays are symbols. They can cause us to pause for celebration or grief, for togetherness or simply to smile. Holidays are worth recalling because they give us a chance to connect and recommit to an idea that matters to us. This is a holiday about freedom delayed.
Change is hard, but delaying what’s right is toxic. Today we can remember just how much we have to do and realize the ability each of us has to see and alter the systems around us.
Not simply today, but every single day. A chance to make things better.