JUNETEENTH: PAUSE, HONOR, RESPECT AND CHANGE!

Please all take a pause and honor this great JUNETEENTH day, otherwise known as “Freedom Day.” On this day in 1865, general Gordon Granger read federal orders in the city of Galveston, Texas, proclaiming all slaves in Texas were now free. Today in 2020, it is very important that all JPI employees, our customers, and vendors celebrate Juneteenth, and should do so with no less enthusiasm than the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, or Labor Day!

Among today’s craziness with COVID, riots, politics, and the unfortunate divisiveness plaguing this country, I believe it imperative that we all agree in this one truth: that no man or woman regardless of race, religion, gender, or creed should be denied their right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.

Abolishing slavery is a great step forward we should never forget, and should be proud of as a country. However, in 2020 as a united nation we should find inexcusable ANY unfair profiling, unnecessary murders, and excessive police force. As a civilization and a community, we must strive to keep getting better and look for ways to ensure excessive police force does not continue. 

However, WE MUST respect and thank police officers as they are vital to the rule of law our country is built upon and essential to the very freedoms we celebrate! Their daily sacrifice is sometimes left unnoticed in times of upheaval like this, but we must know that a very small percentage of the unnecessary brutality does not speak for the much larger majority of the men and women serving on the front lines every day for our country’s safety!

Moreover, the ignorance of people still 150 years behind the times still exists, and can be found no further away than your own company, coworkers, family, friends and neighbors! Go, be bold, and peacefully speak against them so that we may all find a common good and not just improve Police, but the world!

Chuck Mowrey CEO