Dear John,
On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and delivered a long-overdue announcement: the Civil War had ended, and more than 250,000 Black people still enslaved in Texas were free.
This news came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Two and a half years of stolen labor, broken families, and continued suffering, despite a presidential decree.
Juneteenth, now a federal holiday, is both a celebration and a reckoning. It is a powerful reminder that freedom has never been simply given to Black people in America; it has been hard-won, delayed, and resisted at every turn. And it remains incomplete.
CDF President and CEO Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson reminds us that we, “must put heart, hand, and head together to prepare for the strongest, greatest, most significant work that one can do, which is to make sure we appropriately form a world that might actually help to shape the best for and of our children.”
At Children’s Defense Fund, we honor Juneteenth by continuing the work that kind of freedom demands.
We continue the work of liberation when we:
We do this work grounded in faith and fueled by hope. And we do it with the belief that children of all colors must be free from poverty, violence, neglect, and the systems that keep them from thriving.
Juneteenth is not just about the past.
It’s a living call to action. It reminds us that while freedom was promised, justice remains unfinished. Our work continues until every child can grow up with dignity, joy, and the resources they need to live full lives.
We invite you to honor Juneteenth not only in memory, but through movement.
