Behind the Scenes: Notes from the Executive Director’s Desk
This newsletter is the first in a new series of reflections that Executive Director Kate Scott will write. Kate will offer personal insights about ERC’s work and its role in broader work to protect the human and civil rights of individuals and communities across the country. The goal of the series is to provide you—our most committed supporters—with additional insight about the values and perspectives we lead with in our work. We hope that doing so will strengthen our ties.
In today’s newsletter, Kate reflects on Juneteenth, a celebration started by formerly enslaved Black people in Texas to mark the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation (which President Abraham Lincoln had signed two and a half years earlier). Read Kate’s reflection below.
Honoring Juneteenth: A Legacy of Freedom and A Lesson for Today
By: Kate Scott
June 19, 2025
For years, I personally found joy in Juneteenth as a little-known celebration connected to an immensely important historical event for a community that I was not personally part of but whom I deeply admired. Since I first developed an anti-racist identity as a young person, I have paid close attention to the joy and celebration that people who preceded us in this struggle nurtured, even in the most difficult circumstances.
The first half of this year has been one of the lowest points of my entire life when it comes to the extreme disconnect between my values and the world we’re living in. I suspect that is the case for many of you as well. It has been easy to fall into despair as I watch rights stripped away from people and communities I care about in ways I never even dreamed were possible.
This level of despair has allowed me to tap into even greater appreciation for Juneteenth this year, over 150 years since newly emancipated Black people first celebrated it. Juneteenth represents not only a historic moment of delayed emancipation but serves as a reminder that even in the direst, most uncertain circumstances, joy and celebration are necessary to continue the ongoing struggle for true freedom, self-determination, and equity.
Our path forward is unclear, and it’s likely that the next several months will be even more difficult. But Juneteenth reminds us that freedom is not a moment—it’s a process. One that demands vigilance, action, solidarity, and joy.
The ERC is closed today. I’ll be celebrating Juneteenth on the way to a quick beach vacation with my kids, and I hope that all our staff members have found equally joyful ways to spend the day. In doing so, we recommit to the work of dismantling structural racism, expanding access to opportunity, and ensuring that equity is not delayed for another generation.
All the expert advice says that you always have to end an email like this with a call to action, so here goes: what are you doing today to cultivate the joy we need in our lives while we create the world we envision?
Thank you for being part of this work. Together, we carry forward the legacy of Juneteenth—not just in memory, but in motion.
In solidarity,
Kate
PS: If making a donation to support our work will help you feel joy today, who am I to stop you?!
