Juneteenth 2021

Juneteenth commemorates the liberation of 235,000 Black people from chattel enslavement in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. This took place more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Now in 2021, over 150 years after Juneteenth, the US government has finally recognized this historic milestone as a federal holiday. Meanwhile here in Ohio, Black people continue to fight for acknowledgment of our history while Republican legislators want to deny our representation and call the lived experiences of Black students, their families, and their communities "controversial." Black people in America have fought, persevered, and survived, and now Republicans want to ensure that our history will never be taught in the public school systems we PAY for. 

In 2021, we cannot turn a blind eye to how this country continues to fail Black folks. We are facing levels of voting disenfranchisement we have not seen since the implementation of the Voting Rights Bill of 1965, and Republicans in Ohio are leading the charge to take away the cultural and historic ways that communities of color have overcome voter intimidation. Black women led the 2020 racial uprisings and saved democracy in the 2020 election, yet we are still waiting for our government to show up for us, even fighting for self-determination around the way we give birth in Ohio.

America owes us more! While we at Ohio Women's Alliance Action Fund appreciate the sentiment of the federal government acknowledging and honoring such an important day in American history, celebrating Juneteenth is more than celebrating history; it is about continuing to fight for the freedom of Black people, who have yet to receive complete liberation. You can continue the work by supporting Ohio Women’s Alliance Action Fund’s calls to action to protect voting rights, ensure the right to teach our history through critical race theory in our schools, and protect our self-determination around giving birth.