Freedom, Deferred: Reflections on Juneteenth and the Change We Carry

As always, I want to begin with honesty. As a white woman writing about Juneteenth, I’m aware that this day is not mine to claim, but as an American, it is mine to honor. It’s mine to learn from. And in my work as a change coach, it is mine to help contextualize within the larger human journey of reckoning, repair, and what it truly takes to be free.

When you know better, do better

Juneteenth marks the moment, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, when the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that they were free. Two. And a half. Years.

Pause with me there. Let it land.Change delayed is not change denied, but the delay matters.The delay has consequences.The delay hurts.

In a terrible echo of this challenging past, it only gained recognition as a federal holiday in 2021.

Juneteenth is a celebration and it is also a truth-telling. It is a reminder that even when the wheels of justice turn, they often do so with excruciating slowness. And it invites us to ask: what truths are still waiting to be named? What freedoms are still being withheld? What stories need to be shared, understood and made part of our collective unconscious?

Even if you are not ready for day, it cannot always be night

In the world of transformation, whether personal, organizational, or systemic, we talk a lot about “milestones.” They’re the markers that tell us we’re moving forward and on-track. But not all milestones feel like victory laps. Some are heavy. Some, like Juneteenth, commemorate a moment when the truth finally caught up to where it should have been all along.

Milestones are often challenging moments. Moments when the light at the end of the tunnel feels no closer than the one you see behind you. And yet, the celebration matters.

Because definition and recognition matter.Because joy is resistance.Because progress, however overdue, is still worth dancing for.

In my coaching work, I often sit with clients in that liminal space between mistake and correction. Between what was, what is, and what could be. Juneteenth reminds us that reckoning and celebration are not opposites. They are companions. Both are required. We need to name what has been wrong, grieve the losses, and still allow ourselves to rise into something better.

And we need to ask hard questions, even in our own lives:

• What parts of ourselves are still waiting to be freed?

• What truths are we postponing because they’re inconvenient or uncomfortable?

• Where might we, unintentionally, be the ones delaying release for someone or something else?

The function of freedom is to free somebody else

Freedom is not a one-time event. It’s a process. A practice. A shared commitment.It is also a responsibility—especially for those of us who have always had easier access to it.

So today, on Juneteenth, I’m holding reverence. I’m amplifying Black voices, reading Black historians and poets, and listening—really listening. And I’m asking myself, again, what it means to be part of change that doesn’t just perform justice, but lives it.

May we each celebrate the milestones we’ve reached.May we also stay awestruck and vigilant to the ones that are still ahead.And may we move—personally and collectively—toward a version of freedom that leaves no one waiting.

Please enjoy my new favorite poem/transcendent portal: 2025, Unfortunately by @danezsmith