While [freed slaves] lingered to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, many left before these offers were completely off the lips of their former "masters" - attesting to the varying conditions of the plantations and realization of freedom. Even with nowhere to go, many felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of freedom... the Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date.

"Days after the murder of Rayshard Brooks, weeks after the murder of George Floyd, months after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, almost 65 years since the murder of Emmett Till, and more than 400 years after the first Africans were enslaved on American soil, here we are still fighting for freedom. Here we are, free-ish.Racism isn’t new. It’s so American that when you protest racism, people often believe you’re protesting America. We’ve been called the N word. We’ve been called monkeys. We’ve been told to go back to Africa. Our humanity, our pain tolerance, our intelligence, have all been in question merely because of the amount of melanin in our skin. It’s a reality that Black Americans have learned to navigate. From childhood, we’ve seen the disparities in treatment, we’ve heard our parents explain what to do so we can make it home safely from a traffic stop. We’ve had those same conversations with our own children.We’ve learned how to code switch, to ensure we assimilate and conform to the corporate culture. We’ve learned to do what we can to not stick out too much, while trying to bring our whole selves to work. There’s been progress, and we’ve been told to be grateful for it, and to move on. But there are violent reminders on a regular basis that we’re still not free, only free-ish.I’m usually a very hopeful person, but there have been days that I’ve been overtaken by pain and anguish. Over these last few weeks, there have been days I struggled to get out of bed, days my eyelids were swollen from crying so much. Some days, it’s been hard to log on and stay on for the day.So, Juneteenth is different for me this year.I will give myself permission to not be ok. I will unplug to tend to myself and acknowledge how devastating these last few months have been. I will think of so many who lost their lives while simply being Black in America. But I will also give thanks to the leaders we stand on the shoulders of. I will grieve for the fight that remains ahead, and pray for the strength to endure that fight."