A year on from 2020’s world-renewing uprising for racial justice, we see today what has changed for Black people in America – and what has not. Much like the story of Juneteenth, where actualization of freedom from slavery came long after the declaration thereof, today we are living in a world where the actualization of our collective liberation from oppression is far from complete.
Collective Future Fund is committed to a vision of liberation that explicitly includes and centers Black people from across the expansive gender spectrum. We uplift, celebrate, and send our love to our trans, non-binary, and queer Black siblings, who have long been leaders in our movements for freedom, but have often been forced to forfeit safety from homophobic and transphobic violence in exchange for safety from racialized violence. We recognize and mourn for the lives lost at an appalling, heartbreakingly high rate the past year. We remember that Juneteenth falls in the month of Pride, and remember too that Pride was born from the actions of Black and brown Trans and LGTBQ+ survivors, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
As we celebrate Juneteenth and Pride this year, we are reminded that we must build a safe and abundant future for all of us. None of us are truly free until all of us are.
