Juneteenth: Honoring Celebration & The Work Ahead
Why we celebrate and commit to the work ahead
For many years, Project Legacy and our youth have celebrated Juneteenth. From Girl Scout troop participation 12 years ago, to visits and celebrations in Minneapolis, this has been an important day for our organization to commemorate and celebrate.
This year, we join the nation in recognizing Juneteenth as a federal holiday, and celebrate this overdue, significant, and important recognition. Because so many still do not know the historical significance of emancipation and freedom, we encourage you to learn more about this important day.
Beyond recognizing and celebrating Juneteenth, our nation and our community still has much work to do. According to a recent article featured on Twin Cities PBS, Minnesota still ranks as one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to racial inequity, with less than 25% of Black citizens owning a home compared to 76% of White citizens. According to the Department of Housing, this is one of the worst housing disparities across the United States.
Here are a few other important statistics from the article and why this matters:
Health equity: According to the article, Black residents in Minnesota report being in poor or fair health, while White residents are healthier than others in the nation. Health insurance could help fight against these disparities, but few people of color have health insurance.
Jobs: The employment gap between people of color and white residents in Minnesota is one of the worst in the nation. The number of minority-owned businesses is three times below the national average. Education could lead to better jobs. At Project Legacy, this is one reason we place such an organizational emphasis on helping our young people stay in school and pursue higher education.
Education: Which leads us to education. College graduations in Minnesota beat the nation, but only one out of five residents with a Bachelor’s degree are Black, which is below the national average. While Black students represent 10% of the Minnesota school population, they represent 38% of suspensions and expulsions, which is above the national average.
Project Legacy is committed to supporting young people to obtain their education, offering wraparound support and mental health services to youth and young adults facing these disparities. Here, we focus on healing trauma that prevents the attainment of education. We stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle, of coping without relying on drugs, alcohol and other addictions.
While we celebrate this day, what we celebrate even more is how we see our youth persevere throughout the year: Healing from trauma, finding recovery from addiction, obtaining college degrees, becoming employed in jobs that offer equitable wages, build credit and generational wealth through homeownership, healthy relationships and becoming positive community members.
At Project Legacy, we celebrate Juneteenth alongside our country and allies because of its significance in the fight for freedom and equality. But we acknowledge the work is not over. The realities above are the reasons we celebrate Juneteenth, and how we honor this day the rest of the year. Today, we celebrate, and tomorrow, we stay focused and committed to the work of reducing disparities and creating equity so these gaps are closed in our lifetime and for the generations to come.
Social work assistant, Jay Wehrenberg, was interviewed by KIMT about his thoughts on Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday. Jay is a JM grad, a member of Legacy Scholars at RCTC/WSU-R where he's majoring in social work, a former Marine (thank you for your service!), and a social work assistant at PL. Thank you for representing Project Legacy and our community, Jay!