Discover how Inclusive Leaders can Honor Juneteenth in 4 Fun and Meaningful Ways!

If you aspire to be an inclusive leader, there are opportunities in June 19th. As a white American who has been learning and working alongside black colleagues, friends, clients, and family members for more than 50 years, she offers four insights into the power of Juneteenth for inclusive leaders.

Juneteenth is an opportunity to amplify Black voices and experiences while all your colleagues learn to honor the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, TX first heard they had been legally freed by the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln.

1. Center the voices of colleagues who identify as black

During this time of remembrance, we can make sure that listen to, learn about, and follow the agency of those among us who identify as Black or African American. Find the right way to relate to your black colleagues. Make them visible, give them the microphone, and open the door to their stories and the systemic change that will help them. Make sure the way your business recognizes Juneteenth reflects the incredible combination of their voices and experiences. If you’re black, wait and ask allies to introduce themselves this way.

My truth: I haven’t always been a good listener to my black colleagues. At times I have failed to prioritize their voices. Mistakes are available to make, like the Juneteenth drive to monetize. Instead, we can bring a solemn sense of respect and openness to this day.

Related: Beyond Marketing: How Brands Can Truly Support the Black Community on Juneteenth

2. If you’re white, hit Juneteenth

If you identify as white or your racial identity is not black, Juneteenth also invites you to own your story. My ancestors were enslavers of Africans and settlers on native lands, as I have detailed here.

Juneteenth encourages me to re-engage with racial justice. This day of remembrance calls me to move beyond the shame I feel for what “my people” did and continue to do as white supremacists and to authentically serve as a responsible ally to Black people still experiencing the impacts of slavery and discrimination. . Juneteenth is a day for white people to learn history lessons and support our black colleagues, friends and customers by listening to their voices and following his example.

3. Juneteenth gives us the opportunity to explore the meaning of freedom

In 1865, June 19^he was a day when people learned about freedom. In our time, the promise of freedom remains an essential American commitment, even if we do not achieve this aspiration for all people in the US. I grew up in an era of civil rights that celebrated the horsemen of freedom, where the cry in the streets it was “Que suena la libertad”. It was a time that challenged the oppressive limitations placed on African Americans and many others.

Freedom is a human value that opens the door to the voice of each individual and allows each human being to choose and enjoy. We must not take our freedoms for granted or assume that everyone is free. Do you have a point of view in your business on how freedom fuels inclusion and creates ownership on your team?

To develop your point of view on freedom as an inclusive leader, I encourage you to explore Angela Davis’s bookThe meaning of freedom. In the book’s foreword, she is described as “one of the leading philosophers of freedom of our time.” Ms. Davis’s life experience and her incisive mind equip her to draw many conclusions that were disruptive revelations to me. Juneteenth should invite all of us to face the analysis of her as a thoughtful socialist.

Related: We need inclusive leaders now more than ever.

4. Learn the lessons of transparency and telling the truth

There was a thirty-month gap between the time the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people from living as property and when they learned of their change in status as “free” humans. Even now, it is telling and troubling that society was created in such a way that it took a powerful white man to declare them in possession of such a fundamental human right.

However, there is a broader application here regarding organizational life and how information is shared. Sometimes we restrict the truth and transparency around DEI, struggling to go beyond the representative data in annual reports. We may not address real data pain points: for example, the frequent reality that black employees are underperforming ratings. Why is there such pervasive and shocking inequality, how will we address it, and how will we tell the truth about our learning while doing so?

I understand that there are legal issues that need to be considered as we explore why people who identify as Black consistently receive lower grades. But Juneteenth should welcome a courageous competition to become more transparent about the complex interactions between human performance and systemic racism.

There are also truths to tell about the histories of our societies. Teaching history is not an ideological act, nor a political position. A modern way to honor Juneteenth: We fight against any attempt to stifle education about slavery, racism, antisemitism, misogyny, genocide, discrimination, and other forms of hate, past or present. How do you respond to local attempts to suppress the truth and power that Juneteenth represents?

Regardless of how we racially identify, Juneteenth can activate our learning as inclusive leaders. No one should have to wait thirty months for truths that can be heard, said and acted on today.