Posted June 18, 202011:27 am
This year, for perhaps the first time in our history, organizations and businesses around the country are observing Juneteenth, Freedom Day.
On June 19, 1865, slavery finally ended in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued more than 2 years before. But as with all our laws, until that historic proclamation was enforced, it was just paper.
The celebration of the freedom of formerly enslaved black people takes place not on the day the document was written, but on the day it came to life.
On this Freedom Day, Legal Aid recommits itself to --
Bring the power of the law to life – by enforcing those laws that protect;
Bring justice to life for Black and Brown people;
Remove the vestiges of the horror of slavery;
Strike down barriers to opportunity for individuals and communities;
Work toward systemic solutions to systemic racism;
Ensure that all our actions resonate that we believe Black lives matter.