Juneteenth, observed on June 19th, is known as the African American Emancipation Day, dating back to 1865. Recent formidable events have brought Juneteenth to the forefront, and we realize what an important day in our history it is.
We had very candid conversations with our students about current issues, and one of them said to us “But I really believe you’re part of the solution.” He told us that we needed to focus on the positive impacts we are making and that the help we gave him to succeed in school (he recently graduated college) is what will help change the world. He continued to say, ‘There is a systemic problem in our country, but you can’t fix everything, so you should just keep working on education, one of the biggest pieces of the solution.” We are so proud of him and honored that he shared his thoughts so honestly with us.
Moving forward, we are going to learn everything we can, improve whatever we can improve, and keep doing the work we do. We ask all community members to do whatever you can, in your own way, in our call to action to make a difference.