Friday was Juneteenth, a holiday that marks the moment of the end of slavery in the United States.
Abolishing slavery was a monumental achievement in a country built on the labor of enslaved people. Courageous people worked together across race and class over many generations to win this victory. Justice doesn’t happen naturally—it requires sustained action. A. Philip Randolph, a Black labor leader and founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, said, “Freedom is never granted: It is won. Justice is never given: It is exacted. Freedom and justice must be struggled for by the oppressed of all lands and races.”
Randolph’s words still resonate today. We are still winning our freedom. We are still exacting our justice. And we are struggling and winning in community, arm in arm with each other. At Tribute to Change two weeks ago, we felt the power of collective effervescence, of a call-and-response of “Sí Se Puede” led by Juntos and echoed by hundreds of us.