On June 19, 1865, enslaved Black communities in Texas finally received the news that they were free -- two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation and three months since the end of the Civil War.
Juneteenth (June 19th) is a day that honors Black freedom and Black resistance, and centers Black people’s unique contribution to the struggle for justice in the U.S. This year, Juneteenth is a rare moment for our communities to proclaim in one voice that Black Lives Matter, and that we won’t tolerate anything less than justice for all our people.
The white supremacist, tragic recent murders of Rayshard Brooks, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others have renewed global demands for justice. We cannot stand by while our governments continue to fund an excessive, brutal, and discriminatory system of policing with our tax dollars.
We at Sierra Club are following the lead of the Movement for Black Lives in mobilizing people across the country THIS WEEKEND to defend Black lives. Will you join us?
Join us this weekend for a Six Nineteen event in your community, or plan to participate virtually from your home. If you don't see an event near you, check back often! Events are being added all the time.
You can also pledge your support for the Movement for Black Lives here.We join the Movement for Black Lives and the Six Nineteen mobilization in these three demands:
- Defund the Police
- Invest in Black Communities
- Call for Donald Trump’s Resignation
Part of Sierra Club's mission is to fight for safe and healthy communities -- and this includes safety from police violence. The call for defunding the police means shifting massive spending on police that do not keep us safe -- and specifically terrorizes communities of color -- and reinvesting it in a shared vision of community safety that actually works. This will not happen overnight. It will happen through a thoughtful, deliberate, and participatory process.
The bottom line is that white supremacy is a matter of life and death specifically for Black people and the planet.
As one of the largest climate and environmental justice advocacy organizations, part of the Sierra Club’s mandate is to ensure that oppressed communities receive justice and experience the benefits of a healthy and sustainable future. We can never forget that the roots of the climate crisis lie in racism, land-theft, pillaging, colonialism, and patriarchy.
We must not ignore that the pain of these injustices is still felt today in too many ways: Black people have been disproportionately devastated by COVID-19, live with disproportionately higher levels of toxic pollution, and disproportionately face extreme weather of powerful storms, floods, heat waves, wildfires, and droughts.
Enough is enough. Join the Six Nineteen mobilization this weekend as we rise to defend Black lives. Find an event near you at sixnineteen.com