Juneteenth
Facts You May Not Know About Juneteenth
“Where the slavery abolition movement once asked Americans to value the sanctity of human life regardless of race, today’s police and PIC abolitionists ask us to continue the work of securing that sanctity. Now we are fighting for a complete and thorough abolition of the inherently anti-Black institutions of policing and the PIC. Once again we are challenging ourselves and each other to craft a world where we are not only free to live as we please, but also have the resources and support systems for those lives to be safe and comfortable.”
—Gem Nwanne, in Op-Ed: There Is No Queer Liberation Without Prison Abolition
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the US on June 19th, 1865. More specifically, it’s the date that news that slavery was abolished arrived in Galveston, TX which was 2 ½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Today, we celebrate the end of slavery while thinking critically about and continuing the fight against how racism currently manifests culturally and institutionally. We honor the memory of those who fought against racialized violence and whose lives were lost due to racist violence, oppression, trauma and the intersections of racism, misogyny and transphobia.
We consider the legacies of trauma, intergenerational trauma, and the current state of Black freedom and liberation. Racial injustice and police violence have been the reality of Black people and communities for centuries within this country. It is imperative that we begin by acknowledging these wrongs both past and present. We must also stand alongside those working tirelessly to ensure that Black people around the world survive and thrive.
All of G&STC’s therapists are social workers, and two primary tenets of our code of ethics are “social justice” and “dignity and worth of the person.” Radical change, defending and valuing Black life, defunding the police, redistributing funds to Black people and communities, and creating a world that looks dramatically different than the one we live in is vital to upholding G&STC's and the social work profession's core values. Liberation, justice and freedom is necessary.
As the fight for racial justice continues, we remember that the Movement for Black Lives requires ongoing and persistent efforts to dismantle racism in ourselves, personal lives, workplaces, criminal injustice systems, housing practices, voting practices, institutions and our communities.
And we urge our white and NBPOC counterparts to join us in a commitment to redistribute financial resources (i.e- “donating”) to organizations such as Black Lives Matter, BEAM, Marsha P Johnson Institute, G.L.I.T.S, The Okra Project, the Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund and the Trans Women of Color Collective.
In Solidarity,
G&STC
#DefundThePolice #InvestInCommunities #BlackLivesMatter #BlackTransLivesMatter #BlackQueerLivesMatter #Juneteenth