Juneteenth: Rest, Remember, Recommit
June 18, 2025
By: Scott Westcott
Juneteenth arrives tomorrow.
It’s a day many people honor with rest and remembrance.
We believe both have great value in navigating uncertain times.
Rest allows us to recharge, reset, and recommit to the challenging but vital work to create communities and a country in which each one of us has a path to peace and opportunity.
Remembrance calls us to honor the struggle for freedom that Juneteenth commemorates each year. It guides us to confront our nation’s unvarnished history in ways that can compel us to continue the push for equality and opportunity for all.
What could be more important as we face a relentless and systematic effort to roll back many of the hard fought gains of the past several decades?
For social good communicators, we can encourage remembrance by calling attention to the date’s significance (you can find some great resources via the National Museum of African-American History and Culture).
Juneteenth marks the arrival of Union troops to Galveston Bay, Texas, declaring on June 19, 1865, that enslaved people were free — an announcement that came more than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth was named a federal holiday in 2021, a clear recognition of its importance in our nation’s history. It also serves as a global symbol that honest recognition of a painful past does not lessen us, but rather demonstrates the power of the human spirit.
At a time in which too many in our country conspire to rewrite history, Juneteenth provides the opportunity to understand our history with a depth that can inspire commitment to ongoing progress.
Rest, remember, recommit.
