At TrialSpark, we’re committed to the fight for racial justice and equality in the United States. We’re proud to take one small step in the ongoing, lifelong work of combating racism, intolerance, and injustice in our country by recognizing Juneteenth as an official annual company holiday.
Juneteenth celebrates the day the Emancipation Proclamation was announced in Texas, two years after the decree to end slavery was originally announced in January of 1863. The lasting impacts of slavery in America are still brutally evident in our society today.
“We’ve made Juneteenth a holiday for a number of reasons,” says the TrialSpark leadership team. “First and foremost, we wanted to commemorate and honor the historical importance of the day. Secondly, we wanted to give our team the time and space to educate ourselves and reflect on the current environment. The brutal, senseless murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, Nina Pop, Tony McDade, and too many others have underscored how vital it is for us to commit time to learning about, discussing, and taking action against the systemic discrimination and racism in our country. As a team, we’ve created a library of resources to help aid in our ongoing education.”
“Lastly, we recognize that these past few weeks in particular have been emotional and raw for our Black employees. We want to ensure they have a day to decompress and spend time with their loved ones. Our hope is that our non-Black, non-POC employees will spend Juneteenth finding ways to use their voices to fight for equality. We’ll honor Juneteenth as a company holiday moving forward — this day will always remind us how important it is for us to fight for what we know is right.”
Juneteenth is not new, nor is the profound racial trauma our Black communities have suffered for decades. We recognize that honoring this day is just one step of many we’ll need to take as a company to make our country truly equitable for all. Our corporate office will be closed and daily business will be paused as our team members commemorate Juneteenth in their own way — whether that’s by learning, reflecting, connecting, or protesting. We hope you’ll join us by doing the same.
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