‘Our Second Independence Day”: NYAPRS Cultural Competence Committee Marks Juneteenth (enhanced version)

NYAPRS Note: Over the past year, the members of NYAPRS Cultural Competency Committee have devoted their efforts to raising awareness about culturally significant holidays like the one we celebrate today, Juneteenth. See their notice below.
The Committee has also been taking a series of actions to address one of the most egregious examples of rampant and systematic discrimination and injustice in our state and nation: a criminal justice system where there has been far too little justice for African-Americans…but suffering, discrimination and death due to ill-informed if not dangerous or violent police practices, unjust bail and sentencing policies and horrific prison and jail conditions and policies, most notably in the use of solitary confinement.
Great thanks are due to Governor Andrew Cuomo who announced his plans to make Juneteenth a permanent NYS holiday “so New Yorkers can use this day to reflect on all the changes we still need to make to create a more fair, just and equal society” and who, at the same time, has the opportunity this year to move and sign HALT legislation that will overhaul NYS solitary confinement practice and law.
A closing comment from the Black Lives Matter Global Network: “this day marks an opportunity to be in community with one another and to reflect on the important role of building power for ourselves. It is an opportunity to value and honor the lives of Black people and our contributions to progress over the last 400 years.”