Friday is Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. This year, some companies are making it a holiday, including Nike, Target and Uber.
Maya Manus is the advocacy and civic engagement coordinator at the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. This year, she’s coordinating Juneteenth Week, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a virtual event this year.
"What it means to me is freedom, liberation, community, always standing up for what's right. (It's) a day to remember what the actual history was, the history of slavery," Manus said.
The Urban League is using the holiday that celebrates freedom from slavery and highlighting the need to be counted in the 2020 census.
"The reason why people should be counted for the census, it determines three vital things -- democracy, data and dollars. We want democracy and have fair representation, have dollars in our community and also have the data of what our community consists of," Manus said.
The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle teamed up with FW Black Collective, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and Tabor for Juneteenth.
While Gov. Jay Inslee signed a proclamation declaring Friday as Juneteenth, Virginia's governor went even further.
Gov. Ralph Northam proposed legislation to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday. This year, he's making it a paid day off for all state employees.
Lyn Idahosa, of FW Black Collective, said making Juneteenth a holiday is a beginning.
"A big thing around Juneteenth is the healing of our community, recognizing the symbolic moment," Idahosa said, adding that she wants to see it backed up with policy changes. "I do believe that's a strong first start that sends a message because we're a capitalism-based society, so that sends a message to corporations because they'll have to pay for that time off. That gets them thinking these types of policies are changes. What other policies can be changed?"
Besides celebrating on Juneteenth, advocates say it should be used to educate everyone about the history behind it.
There are many virtual events the public can join on Urban League’s website, from cooking classes to black history to cultural classes and children’s programs.
There are also in-person events, including The Next Steps (Not This Time) March planned for Friday from 1- 4 p.m. at 2150 S. Norman St. in Seattle. The event is hosted by Andre Taylor. For more information, click here.
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