Juneteenth invitations us to replicate on freedom. It marks the day when the final enslaved African Individuals in Galveston, Texas, lastly realized they have been free — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth isn’t solely a commemoration of that long-delayed justice; it’s a mirror we maintain as much as our current, asking how far we’ve come — and the way far we nonetheless should go.
In that gentle, housing — particularly Black homeownership — emerges as a significant frontier within the ongoing pursuit of true freedom and belonging.
Black Home Initiative, a regional effort geared toward lowering racial wealth inequity, was launched to handle probably the most persistent inequities in American life: the racial homeownership hole. For many years, discriminatory insurance policies akin to redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and predatory lending stripped Black communities of alternatives to construct wealth and plant generational roots. Right this moment, the legacy lingers. Black households are far much less more likely to personal properties than their white counterparts, and once they do, they usually personal properties of lesser worth in under-resourced neighborhoods. The initiative was based with a objective of making alternative for 1,500 new low- and moderate-income Black households to personal a house in South Seattle, South King County and North Pierce County by the top of 2028.
That is the place Juneteenth and the Black House Initiative converge. Each are about liberation — not solely from chains and legal guidelines, however from techniques that proceed to restrict full participation within the American dream. Homeownership is greater than a monetary milestone. It’s a basis for belonging — a spot the place tradition, reminiscence and identification can take root. It’s the place we’re seen, the place we contribute, the place we matter.
Once we discuss belonging, we’re speaking about greater than inclusion. We’re speaking about company. About dignity. About permanence. We’re speaking a couple of baby rising up in a neighborhood the place her mother and father personal their residence and really feel invested locally round them. We’re speaking concerning the energy to remain when staying issues — and the ability to depart when alternative calls.
Juneteenth reminds us that delayed freedom isn’t freedom. It calls us to behave on behalf of justice not simply in spirit, however in construction. Black House Initiative is one such act — re-imagining what it appears like for Black Individuals to not solely survive however thrive. Many different organizations in our state are additionally working to dismantle the techniques that maintain us again from true liberation. Let this month’s celebration function a reminder to achieve out, roll up our sleeves, and be a part of others pushing for fairness in areas akin to housing, well being care, schooling and extra.
As we honor Juneteenth, let’s ask: What does it imply to be really free? And the way can we be sure that each individual — particularly Black Individuals — has not solely the suitable however the actual alternative to belong?
As a result of freedom is not only declared. It’s constructed — brick by brick, block by block, residence by residence.
