In tribute to the legacy of our Black brothers and sisters, IFR is proud to recognize Juneteenth and all that it stands for today.

We know that Juneteenth is both a day of great celebration of freedom and a sad reminder that the shackles of racism need not be encoded in law to oppress an entire community. We know it is a day of pure jubilation that the struggles of slaves to endure, survive, fight, and ultimately win resulted in freedom.

For the Black community today, we understand the simultaneous bittersweet heart-swelling reverence for one’s ancestors that Juneteenth represents on the one hand, and the ugly backdrop of racism that required such a struggle on the other hand. We recognize how important it is to memorialize Juneteenth this year when Black people’s rights and very lives remain in peril.

This is why IFR’s Board of Directors and staff have dedicated the last six months to learning together how to actively dismantle racism and be better allies to the Black community. We are working to learn what dismantling anti-blackness means from personal, organizational and community perspectives. While the Latinx community may face many of the same oppressive forces, the escalated attacks on the Black community require us all to stand up to actively defeat anti-Blackness – and we are committed to continuing this work.

At the same time, we share in the joyfulness of Juneteenth as a celebration of the resilience of the community of African descendants. We are especially heartened to learn that Juneteenth will now be an official national holiday. What a better day than this to unequivocally state:

Yes!

Black Lives Matter!

¡Pa’delante!