We are a small team at Various. It might seem silly for a team of 3 to be taking a stand on something like this, but the truth is that if we want to make systemic change, it needs to be part of our system from the very beginning.
With that in mind, Various & Co will be honoring Juneteenth as a holiday and closing our office (even remotely). Juneteenth is “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance." (from hellajuneteenth.com as linked).
But this won’t just be a summer Friday day off. This will be a day of change, a day of learning, a day of self-reflection, a day of becoming better.
Here’s what our calendar will look like instead:
9am: Touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Freedom and Slavery Exhibit. (h/t to Lorem Ipsum for the rec)
11am: Emailing our representatives across the board to make this day a permanent national holiday.
1pm: Reading session for our 1st Various Book Club (discussion happening next week) for which we are reading So You Want To Talk About Race
3pm: Taking a coffee break and buying some sweet treats from the Bakers Against Racism
5pm: Going for a walk in the park and listening to any one of these amazing podcasts from Black creators
7pm: Participating in the BRIC #BHeard Townhall
We found a lot of these ideas from the amazing people at HellaJuneteenth and you can check it out for additional resources too.
Whatever you do on Friday June 19th, make sure you take a second to check yourself. Remember the history of this country and how we got to be where we are and do something to support your fellow Black Americans. <3, The Various Team