Chris Thomas is executive director of YourPassion1st, a youth empowerment organization offering mentorship for male students in grades 6-12. The purpose is to help them find and follow their passion into the work force or entrepreneurship. Thomas explained what Juneteenth means to him and why it’s important to commemorate it.
“Juneteenth is important because we still deal with a lot of racial inequities,” Thomas said. “I think that a lot of Black history has kind of gotten wiped away and Juneteenth is the time once a year to remember and celebrate all that Black history is.”
Juneteenth marks the day more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, that Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston Island, Texas. He was there with federal troops to take control of the state and to enforce the emancipation of enslaved people in the region in 1865. And so Juneteenth honors the end to slavery.
“I think it’s important to memorialize that and keep it front and center as we look at some of the work that we do that allows for relationship and community building in our communities,” Thomas said of the June 19 holiday.
Considered the longest-running African American holiday, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.
In response to efforts of President Donald Trump’s administration to unravel civil rights gains for African Americans and its movement toward erasing Black history, Thomas said all races have a responsibility to fight racism.
“It’s not enough to not be racist,” Thomas said. “We have to be anti-racist. As Black people first and foremost, we have to build better relationships within our communities. … break generational curses and teach people how to deal with life.”
Juneteenth is not just a day to celebrate, it is a day to commemorate folks, people, instances of history that brought African Americans to their place in American history today, he said.
Reparations, he added, are necessary to help repair and help the healing that needs to happen in the Black community.
Thomas partners with A Greater Good Foundation, the host partner of the 6th annual ‘Let’s Grow Together,’ a holistic wellness Juneteenth celebration which took place June 8 at Proviso East.