On June 17th, President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday. The holiday commemorates the day, on June 19, 1865, that the last enslaved African-Americas learned of their freedom, marking the formal end to slavery in the United States. In many ways, the federal recognition of this holiday is a signal of progress. It is the latest, loud signal that the racial reckoning brought forth by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans last spring is translating to a deepened understanding of our country’s systemic racism and the need for change.
The private sector has certainly heard that clarion call. Over the past year, we have seen many companies announce or renew their commitment to fight racial equity – internally with changed business practice and externally through community philanthropy and volunteerism. This June, we saw a steep rise in companies celebrating Juneteenth, leaning into those commitments with announcements of large grants, wide sweeping volunteer events, and a flood of social media messages.
Still, the new fervor behind Juneteenth is a reminder of how far we have to go. It is a reminder that slavery has not ended. It has merely been redesigned with new forms of human rights violations, discrimination, and pay inequity.
So, while it’s heartening to experience the staying power of this modern civil rights movement, we have to ensure that companies are making true systemic, operational change – not being performative. We need to ensure that the volunteerism that happens during moments like Juneteenth is designed to rally and educate volunteers – not to make them feel like they’re just checking a box.
I was caught in the tension of this moment during Juneteenth, when I had the chance to sit down with Yusuf George, Managing Director at JUST Capital, to record the latest episode of Pro Bono Perspectives. JUST Capital is holding companies accountable for their racial equity practices, including their anti-discrimination policies, pay equity, employee diversity, community investments, and more.
One moment from our conversation stays in my mind:
“When we think about companies truly translating their racial equity narrative to action both internally and with their community engagement practices, how many companies are there?” I asked.
“No company is there,” he quickly stated.
No company is there. That doesn’t mean that companies aren’t taking significant leaps forward on this critical journey – I’ve seen those leaps up close. That doesn’t mean that companies are just playing a marketing game when they say #BlackLivesMatter. It does mean that we have a long way to go. It also means that nearly every company is on this journey – and we have a much greater ability to be transparent about that journey. Every corporate CEO in America is in the company of others who are learning, working, and making mistakes. CEOs across all sectors need to be talking about where they’ve made mistakes in the past, where they’re stumbling and messing up, and where they’re making progress.
Today, as we look forward to the Independence Day holiday, I encourage you to think about freedom in this context. To know that we’re still all fighting for our country’s freedom, and that we need to release the constraints of rosy-pictured shareholder and funder reports, and be honest and talk about the constant, challenging, necessary work of ending racial injustice.
danielleholly.com 