06/19/2026
🌿 Family,
Today we observe Juneteenth — a day that marks the moment in 1865 when our ancestors in Galveston, Texas were told they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. We honor their endurance, their brilliance, their survival, and their refusal to disappear.
But let us also tell the truth.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of chattel slavery in the United States, not the end of slavery itself. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime — a loophole that continues to fuel mass incarceration, forced labor, and the ongoing exploitation of Black, Indigenous, and poor communities.
So today, we hold both realities:
- The joy of our ancestors’ liberation
- The grief and clarity that our liberation is still incomplete
This duality is not a contradiction — it is our compass as we know that slavery in the US didn't end, it was rebranded.
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Honoring the Progress, we honor:
- The generations who fought for freedom with no guarantee they would see it
- The cultural, spiritual, and intellectual legacies they preserved
- The communities who built life after bo***ge with nothing but each other
- The ongoing work of abolitionists, organizers, and healers who refuse to let the story end here
Juneteenth is not a celebration of federal benevolence.
It is a celebration of Black self-determination, community resilience, and our lineage of resistance.
If you want to revisit our frameworks for grounding this moment, explore:
- C.A.R.E.’s historical justice lens
- C.A.R.E.’s community healing framework
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Naming the Reality, we cannot honor Juneteenth without acknowledging:
- The 13th Amendment’s loophole still legalizes slavery
- Incarceration remains a racialized economic system
- Corporations profit from prison labor
- Many of the same institutions that once owned our ancestors now profit from their descendants
This is not pessimism — it is clarity.
And clarity is the foundation of sovereignty.
To understand this more deeply, you can explore:
- The 13th Amendment loophole
- How mass incarceration continues the legacy of enslavement
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To move forward in Power, here are three pathways we can walk together:
1. Challenge Our Representatives
We can demand:
- Removal of the 13th Amendment loophole
- Investment in community-based alternatives to incarceration and re-entry services
- Policies that reduce harm instead of expanding punishment
- Transparency around prison labor and corporate contracts
This is not partisan — it is human rights.
If you want to explore how to frame this, see:
- Advocacy strategies for constitutional reform
2. Vote With Our Dollars
Economic refusal is one of the oldest tools of liberation.
We can:
- Boycott corporations that profit from incarceration
- Support Black-, Indigenous-, and community-owned businesses
- Invest in mutual aid, cooperatives, and land-based healing
- Withdraw participation from systems that harm us
To deepen this, explore:
- Ethical boycotting strategies
- Alternatives to corporate supply chains
3. Build the World We Need
C.A.R.E. is already doing this through:
- Community wellness events and workshops
- Trauma-informed leadership and peer supports
- Land-based healing and nature therapy
- Education and sovereignty-centered development
Our work is abolition in practice.
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Today, we honor our ancestors’ freedom while acknowledging our own unfinished liberation.
We celebrate our people — not the systems that harmed us.
We recommit to building a world where freedom is not symbolic, delayed, or conditional.
May this Juneteenth bring clarity, courage, and collective purpose.
May we continue to move in truth, sovereignty, and community care.
Yours in community,
L. DeeDee Anderson, Founder and CEO
C.A.R.E Wellness Center
C.A.R.E Family Services, LLC
S.A.F.E Program (c)
[email protected] | WA Main: 253-478-0126
