Today is Juneteenth. Juneteenth marks the 1865 emancipation of the last remaining enslaved Africans in the US, two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Today is a day that honors Black freedom and Black resistance, and centers Black people’s unique and unending contribution to the struggle for justice in this country.

This Juneteenth is a special one for our coalition, organizers and partners. Even as we write this email we are amidst an uprising too long in the making but welcome in the eyes of those who demand the liberation they deserve. Juneteenth marks a significant moment in our nation’s history but is a reminder that the liberation guaranteed on that day in 1865 is a promise still unfulfilled. Slavery still exists in our nation’s prison industrial complex, oppression and racism stifle the freedom from our most vulnerable communities, and still, people are not free to exist as themselves. The struggle for racial justice continues.

As organizers, we would like to recognize Oluwatoyin Salau as a voice in this struggle. Oluwatoyin, or “Toyin” as she was known, was a 19-year-old rising leader in the Tallahassee Black Lives Matter movement who was recently found murdered. Her powerful words on racial injustice are memorialized here for all to remember.

Toyin Salau’s murder is horrifying, but the death of Black activists and organizers is not new. In the roughly 5 years since the Black Lives Matter uprising in Ferguson, Missouri which was sparked by the police murder of Michael Brown, six Black activists have all been found dead.Muhiyidin Moye, a New Orleans based Black activist was also murdered in 2018, and Erica Garner, activist and daughter of Eric Garner, died of a heart attack at 27 in 2017. We know that racism is a public health crisis that harms the Black community’s physical and mental health, but we also know that those fighting against oppression on behalf of their communities take an extraordinary risk in doing so, and we want to honor these revolutionaries with you today.

This Juneteenth, in particular, is a rare moment for us all to proclaim in one unified voice that Black Lives Matter and that we won’t tolerate anything less than justice for the Black community.This is an opportunity to learn from the Black leaders in our communities and to reassess how some of us act as allies— or accomplices— in the movement for freedom from oppression. At Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, we are proud to treat this day as a holiday— a day of reflection and resistance— for our staff. We are using this day to support the Black organizers in our community and in our organizational network, to share the message of the Movement for Black Lives, and to celebrate the incredibly rich and beautiful existence of Black culture and history that is on display across the state in honor of Juneteenth.

Massachusetts Jobs with Justice has signed on to support the Movement for Black Lives’ campaign, SixNineteen. Join us in mobilizing for SixNineteen on Juneteenth weekend, June 19–21, 2020. Take action in front of the White House, in your community, or at home by joining an event or hosting an event, donating to the campaign, and calling for these three demands:

☑ Defunding of police

☑ Investment in Black communities

☑ Resignation of Donald Trump

You can also text the word DEFEND to 90975 to stay updated on how to take action this weekend and follow M4BL on Facebook.

Right now, uprisings are taking place in all 50 states; the Movement for Black Lives is alive and vibrant. Help us lay the path to freedom on this Juneteenth weekend.

In solidarity,

The Massachusetts Jobs with Justice Team