Two and a half years. It took two and a half years for enslaved Black Americans in Texas to know that they were free, following the Emancipation proclamation. Juneteenth celebrates the moment they gained that knowledge and freedom.

But the end of chattel slavery was far from the end of violence against Black people in this country. Whether through physical violence (lynchings, the KKK, police, mass incarceration) or through formal and informal policies (segregation, redlining, restrictive voter rights laws), the United States continued to deny safety and humanity to Black people.

The denial continues today. Two and a half years. 160 years later.

Those of us who work for freedom must face our past and present openly and honestly, to break the cycles of oppression that have kept people under the boot of white supremacy for generations. We will not allow this administration, or any administration, to whitewash history or the present moment. We won’t let them eliminate DEI or programs like affirmative action that help repair the harm of white supremacy.

This Juneteenth, we celebrate — but with eyes wide open, knowing that until Black liberation is realized, no one in America is truly free.