UNITY

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future.

The 33rd annual Cincinnati Juneteenth Festival took place the weekend of June 19-21, 2020. Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the usual in-person event, the celebration took place virtually through a series of one-hour concerts everyone enjoyed from home. Click below to learn more about the weekend’s activities and how you can get involved in future events.

There are numerous local and national organizations working to address social justice issues. You can support these groups in many ways, including volunteer work, helping spread their message on social media and donations.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Cincinnati NAACP: The Cincinnati arm of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1915 and remains an active chapter of one of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations. Its website currently includes petitions for justice related to the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as contact information for representatives in their respective areas.
• National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: Located at The Banks in downtown Cincinnati near Great American Ball Park, the Freedom Center’s mission is to reveal stories of freedom’s heroes, from the era of the Underground Railroad to contemporary times, challenging and inspiring everyone to take courageous steps of freedom today. The center presents permanent and special exhibits that inspire, public programming that provoke dialogue and action, and educational resources that equip modern abolitionists.
• Ohio ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union is another organization with a long history of civil rights advocacy. A statement about police brutality on its website says donations to the group will fuel the organization’s “legal battles and urgent advocacy efforts.” Its Ohio chapter is based in Cleveland and the group aims to pass civil rights lawsuits that affect the entire nation.
• Ohio Innocence Project: Since 2003, the Ohio Innocence Project has provided legal defense to help exonerate those who have been imprisoned for crimes that they didn’t commit. The group’s work has successfully led to the release of 30 wrongfully convicted Ohioans, who collectively served more than 600 years behind bars.
• Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio: The ULGSO is recognized as the oldest and largest community-based organization devoted to empowering African American individuals and families. The mission is to transform generations by promoting personal empowerment and economic self-sufficiency.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Black Economic Alliance: We are a non-partisan alliance of business leaders and supporters focused on driving economic progress for the Black community through public policy, advocacy, and political engagement.
• Black Futures Lab: The Black Futures Lab transforms Black communities into constituencies that change the way power operates—locally, statewide and nationally.
• Black Girl Ventures: Their mission is to provide Black/Brown woman-identifying founders with access to community, education, and leadership development in order to meet business milestones that lead to economic advancement through entrepreneurship.
• Black Lives Matter Foundation: #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc. is a global organization whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
• Center for Policing Equity: As a research and action think tank, Center for Policing Equity produces analyses identifying and reducing the causes of racial disparities in law enforcement. Using evidence-based approaches to social justice, we use data to create levers for social, cultural and policy change.
• Color of Change: Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
• Equal Justice Initiative: The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
• The Loveland Foundation: The Loveland Therapy Fund provides financial assistance to Black women and girls nationally seeking therapy. Through their partnerships with Therapy for Black Girls, National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network, Talkspace and Open Path Collective, Loveland Therapy Fund recipients will have access to a comprehensive list of mental health professionals across the country providing high quality, culturally competent services to Black women and girls.
• MacArthur Justice Center: For over 30 years, the MacArthur Justice Center has fought cases to right individual wrongs, confront racial and social inequality and demand real reform. Our belief remains the same – that those who are most vulnerable and who are therefore at risk of being ground up in the gears of the criminal justice system will always need an advocate to right the individual wrongs they have suffered and to address and attack the underlying systemic injustices.
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.
• National Bail Fund Network: The National Bail Fund Network is made up of over sixty community bail and bond funds across the country. The site, which features a listing of bail funds by state, is regularly updated to include community bail funds that are freeing people by paying bail/bond and are also fighting to abolish the money bail system and pretrial detention.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality. SPLC’s Hate Map is widely used. In addition to monitoring and tracking the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists, SPLC publishes investigative reports, trains law enforcement officers and shares key intelligence, and offers expert analysis to the media and public.
• The Great Unlearn: Another initiative from The Loveland Foundation’s founder and president Rachel Cargle, The Great Unlearn offers a monthly self-paced syllabus of readings, video lectures, and even templates for reaching out to your employer, local school districts, and other organizations about racial justice and accountability.
• The Innocence Project: The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

While we strive to be a leader in making positive change, we also understand that we do not have all of the answers. Please let us know any feedback you have or suggestions for what we can do better as we look ahead to make a difference.

We also encourage you to keep the conversation going however you can. Get involved by discussing your thoughts and opinions with others on social media. Plan events in your community to bring people of all backgrounds together. It’s only through education, sharing and understanding that we can create true, lasting change.