What does Juneteenth mean to you? What does it represent? How can it help us move forward?
The answer is different for everyone, depending on the color of their skin, their experiences, and their interest in fixing the things that need to be fixed.
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States and Echo Marketing will be closed.
For us, it is a day to celebrate freedom and discuss the foundational role slavery played in institutional racism and inequality. It is a time to reflect, have candid conversations and measure the progress that has been made.
Progress takes time and a slow pace can be disheartening. Martin Luther King Jr. said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” There is always an upward swing although it may not swing as quickly as we would like.
We encourage you to get uncomfortable. Learn more about the nasty history of slavery in the United States. Talk to someone that has experienced racial discrimination and walk a mile in their shoes. Create an action plan on how you are going to get involved to create racial equity.
It feels like we are heading in the right direction generally. We’re in a better position today than we were a year ago…or a decade ago.
That is because more and more people are hearing the truth. More and more people are opening their eyes to the atrocities that this country is home to and working to eliminate them. More and more people are doing - in addition to talking.
But we can’t let up as there is a lot of work to be done to fix centuries of wrongs. And there are plenty of modern examples that show we are not where we need to be.
Please join us in celebrating Juneteenth and having those uncomfortable conversations about our history so that we can move forward together.
- Jordan Grable
CEO, Echo Marketing