News • June 19, 2020

Will You Show Up For Juneteenth?

From Monday's SCOTUS ruling on workplace nondiscrimination protections to yesterday's ruling protecting DACA recipients to SCOTUS deciding not to hear challenges to gun laws, it's been a monumental week for our communities. Today, we invite you to pause alongside the Equality North Carolina staff and board as we come together to reflect on the legacy of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Unfortunately, like much of Black history, Juneteenth is often erased from our history books and Americans grow up learning a whitewashed version of this country's brutal past.

This year, Juneteenth is getting a lot of attention because America seems to finally be reckoning with the realities of Black experience in this country. Today, you'll undoubtedly see many companies releasing statements of solidarity and publicizing that they've given their employees the day off.

While these gestures of Black solidarity are incredible to see, this moment in our country calls for so much more.

Truly confronting the injustices Black Americans have been subjected to for centuries in America looks like true, institutional reform: channeling money into historically resource-poor school systems, addressing the school-to-prison pipeline, concrete and wide-sweeping police reform, confronting gentrification, redrawing district lines that have led to gerrymandering for historically Black and Brown neighborhoods -- and SO MUCH MORE.

These are massive social ills that will take more than a day of solidarity with Black lives to correct. But if you're looking to plug into the moment today, there's a number of ways to do so:

RSVP here to attend a Juneteenth action in Washington DC, in your community, or online. Donate to the Movement For Black Lives mobilization fund. Your dollars will be put to work where they are needed most. Follow the Movement for Black Lives on Facebook to say up-to-date on how you can support. Undoubtedly, there will also be public demonstrations for Juneteenth in cities all across our state today.

In whatever way you are able, Equality NC would like to encourage you to take action today and join the collective movement to end racialized oppression in this country.

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