Juneteenth
by Portia Allen on June 19, 2026
Do you remember the first time you saw one of your teachers out in “the wild” of life? Non-professional clothes, pushing a grocery cart…how were they even surviving outside of school?
Or when you realized your parents are people with feelings, dreams, and desires?
How did we miss the humanity of our teachers, our parents, or other significant adults in our proximity?
The lack of recognizing the importance or nuance of a particular person, event, or object is likely a combination of maturity and the human tendency to focus on what is directly impacting us at any given time.
An “aha” moment often comes from encountering new information that lands effectively when it comes as the result of dialoguing and engaging with someone who has experienced the nuance and importance of a person, event, or object.
Juneteenth (June 19) has been a federal holiday for just over five years. It had been celebrated by many—specifically in the state of Texas—for generations before it landed on the collective consciousness of our country.
Personally, I did not know anything about Juneteenth until moving to Texas in the early ’90s.
It’s still embarrassing to admit, but I kind of laughed off the holiday. With only a surface-level understanding of the day, the jokes would land along the lines of those enslaved in Texas somehow being at fault for “missing the message” of emancipation.
Spurred on by the atmosphere of the city I lived in during the summer of 2020 (Minneapolis), I began to educate myself and reflect on the importance of the day.
The concept of freedom, if we are not careful, can easily be taken for granted when we have been afforded freedom our entire lives.
There has been a lot of conversation in recent years about the importance of empathy—and even the potential harm that can come from misplaced empathy. To demonstrate empathy is to be emotionally moved by an event because you can imagine the deep and real emotions that would be present if you were in that situation.
Commemorating a day serves many purposes. Birthdays celebrate another trip around the sun. Anniversaries can mark just about anything we want to remember annually.
Juneteenth is a reminder to celebrate freedom. Freedom—not just for a few, but for all.
On June 19,1865, people enslaved in Texas finally received news that they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1,1863. For generations, people had been denied freedoms promised in a country founded on liberty.
To put this in perspective: America fought for and won its independence in 1776, yet that freedom was not extended to those enslaved from the continent of Africa. For nearly another 100 years, an entire population of people lived in the “Land of the Free” without being free.
Juneteenth invites us to reflect on and celebrate the progress toward justice and inclusion for people of African descent in America.
Recognizing progress allows celebration of what has occurred while it can also remind us there is still more work to do. When we take time to celebrate, commemorate, and reflect, it can help us see how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.
Although I am forever grateful for the freedoms I enjoy, Juneteenth reminds me freedom can never be taken for granted. So, I will continue to champion movements that impact the marginalized and sometimes overlooked people in the U.S. that there may truly be “justice and liberty for all.”
So, how will you celebrate Juneteenth this year? What “aha” moments are waiting for you? What might you discover as you engage more deeply and empathetically with the stories and the communities around you?