Juneteenth

On this day, Juneteenth, I am thinking about what it must have been like on June 19, 1865. On that day, General Gordon Granger read, in Galveston, Texas, the Emancipation Proclamation which had been signed two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln. Enslaved people learned they were free. 

I am thinking about what they wondered. Dreamed. Feared. Hoped for their children, and grandchildren. Children for generations to come. Truthfully, I can’t even fathom their thoughts. But, I can’t believe they would be different than my hope for my own children. . . .and all children. Or your hopes and dreams for your children. . .and all children. That they might grow up in a safe and just world filled with equal opportunity for all. 

Indeed, we have come far but we have so far to go. When I think about how we at Big Shoulders Fund can contribute to the change we want to see, the list is long. But the work must and will go on toward a brighter future.  

I feel fortunate to work at a mission that for more than thirty years has partnered with children, families, and communities to help them on their path toward their hopes and dreams. Annually, Big Shoulders Fund is in partnership with 26,000 children to seek those opportunities and dreams that, for many, would have been next to impossible before June 19, 1865. 

We have much work to do in our country as still too many obstacles remain in the pursuit of these dreams. And so, today, we at Big Shoulders Fund recommit ourselves to work harder, speak louder, and fight more strongly against racism and injustice with opportunities, investment, and support.