Lift Every Voice: Still, I Rise, and We Continue to Stand
Outline
1) The importance of Juneteenth to the average American.
2) History is a process not a moment.
3) How poetry, music, and history intertwined to produce messages of hope, resilience, and success.
4) What does history tell us about the current conversation regarding DEI?
5) Why Juneteenth -and why do we need to understand the dreams of freedom?
6) What Juneteenth tells us about mental wellness and the future.
7) What the celebration of Juneteenth has to do with today's millennials and gen-z.
1) The importance of Juneteenth to the average American.
Frederick Douglass, having escaped his enslavement, became one of the most vibrant voices for freedom in the nineteenth century. In June of 1852, asked by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, to deliver the Independence Day address, Douglass asked a poignant question “What to the slave is the fourth of July. Today, I ask a similar question, what to the average American is Juneteenth and why should they Celebrate it. I would argue, that if you are familiar with the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and its related amendments -starting with the 13th, 14th, and 15th -that declared the African free, granted citizenship to all those born in these United States, and prohibited racial discrimination in voting and political rights - then you too should Celebrate this day.
Why?
All of the great principles of freedom, justice, and equality did not apply to all Americans, until they applied to the African. Blacks, as they broke the chains of servitude, did so after more than 2 centuries of struggle, resistance, and fortitude. Through these efforts the African asserted their own liberation, shouted hallelujah, and invited their fellow Americans to join in the celebration. And so here we are, in 2025 celebrating another Juneteenth by a Nation whose path to Democracy was paved by the African.
The blessings of liberty, shared by all, is a journey that we continue to travel today. It is a journey that started as the first group of Africans embarked on these shores in 1619. It is a journey that unless remembered, celebrated, understood and embraced by all Americans it will be a journey that we might have to repeat. And therefore, I invite you to Lift Every Voice.
2) History is a process not a moment.
When we concentrate on a historical moment, we tend to focus on a specific event and not the series of events that produced the systemic processes bringing about change. As I consider Juneteenth, I would be negligent if I followed the same tendency. Juneteenth was not a moment but a process. This process started with the first Africans setting foot on American soil and continues to this day. And so, while formally the Juneteenth acknowledges June 19, 1865 – we celebrate the entire voyage by which the Africans overcame the obstacles, thrived through diversity, and continuously liberated themselves.
Also, often we think of specific groups, we ignore the multiple forms of assistance and types of allies that came to their aid. The history of Black liberation in America is also filled with the assistance of whites, particularly white women. We speak of the abolition movement and the underground railroad, but neither would have been successful without the aid of white women. Similarly, when we discuss the civil rights movement, and other social movements, these were not isolated affairs, but collective efforts of multiple groups and individuals. Which requires not only recognition, but some definitions.
There is a difference between allyship and catering to the audience. The former is focusing on what is right, while the latter is appearing to be right. Allyship is about being in the trenches, dodging bullets, taking chances. Catering is about pimping the movement, looking for photo ops, and promoting personal agendas, We do not need the crowds mimicking our pain, but those willing to share that pain. Want to demonstrate authenticity in our struggle, go in your job or place of business and begin to identify and dismantle racist barriers. Take some risks, make some individual and collective sacrifices by funding some scholarships, provide skills training, open up some pathways to occupations and crafts. Then you will demonstrate that you are indeed an ally. It's what you do when the cameras are off that makes a difference,
Looking back, we could identify thousands of individuals and events that helped pave the way to the process known as Juneteenth. As I begin, let me clarify: Juneteenth and all aspects associated with Black History are American History. Our myopic concern with relegating specific groups to footnotes or, in our current day, invisibility further distorts that history. I can think of no better place to start than with a poem.
Faced with trials and tribulations in a system designed to produce frustration and stress, Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise, published in 1978, demonstrates how Blacks in America made it through the tough times. Nothing matches her declaration of resilience and dignity. Consider:
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
History often repeats itself, and we must affirm that we will survive and thrive now despite widespread despair. Looking back on similar moments, we see how we've found reasons to sing and celebrate our victories in the face of difficulty. Our journey in the Americas began with talented artists, scholars, and tradespersons, not as enslaved people. Let's begin.
A side point, you might note that I refer to enslaved people, not slaves. I make this distinction because a slave has embraced or internalized their enslavement, while an enslaved has not. The distinction is not trivial and will become abundantly clear through this message.
The first group of Africans that arrived in what was to become the United States of America came in 1619 to Virginia. Their arrival was essential, for Virginia was a failed colony before their arrival. Tobacco, derived from the Native Americans, was the primary reason behind the success of Virginia, and the skills of the Africans made this success a reality. Consequently, it is more than ironic that Florida would declare the African not only an enslaved person but bereft of any useable skills. History demonstrates a different story.
The state of Florida recently ignited a controversy when it released a set of 2023 academic standards that required fifth graders to be taught that enslaved Black people in the U.S. "developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their benefit."
As a researcher specializing in the history of race and racism in the U.S., I – like a growing chorus of critics – see that education standard as flawed and misleading.
Whereas Florida would have students believe that enslaved Black people "benefited" by developing skills during slavery, the reality is that enslaved Africans contributed to the nation's social, cultural, and economic well-being by using skills they had already developed before captivity. What follows are examples of the skills the Africans brought with them as they entered the Americas as enslaved:
1. As farmers
Between 1750 and 1775, most enslaved Africans that landed in the Carolinas came from the traditional rice-growing regions in Africa known as the Rice Coast.
Subsequently, rice joined cotton as one of the most profitable agricultural products, not only in North Carolina and South Carolina but in Virginia and Georgia as well.
Other African food staples, such as black rice, okra, black-eyed peas, yams, peanuts, and watermelon, made their way into North America via slave ship cargoes.
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Ship captains relied on African agricultural products to feed the 12 million enslaved Africans transported to the Americas through a brutal voyage known as the Middle Passage. The Africans sometimes stowed away food as they boarded the ships. These foods were essential for the enslaved to survive the harsh conditions of their trans-Atlantic trip in the hulls of ships.
Once on plantations in the land now known as the United States, enslaved people occasionally were able to cultivate small gardens. In these gardens, reflecting a small amount of freedom, enslaved men and women grew their own food. Some of the crops consisted of produce originating in Africa. From these they added unique ingredients, such as hot peppers, peanuts, okra and greens, to adapt West African stews into gumbo or jambalaya, which took rice, spices and heavily seasoned vegetables and meat. These dishes soon became staples in what would become known as down-home cooking. Crop surpluses from the communal gardens were sometimes sold in local markets, thus providing income that some enslaved people used to purchase freedom. Some of these African-derived crops became central to Southern cuisine.
A farmer displays a handful of peanuts.
African crops like peanuts and okra became central to Southern cuisine.
2. As cooks and chefs
The culinary skills that the West Africans brought with them served to enhance, transform and produce unique eating habits and culinary practices in the South. Although enslaved Africans were forced to cook for families that held them as property, they also cooked for themselves, typically using a large pot that they had been given for the purpose.
Using skills from various West African cultures, these cooks often worked together to prepare communal meals for their fellow enslaved people. The different cooking styles produced a range of popular meals centering on one-pot cooking, including stews or gumbos or layering meat with greens. The meals comprised a high proportion of corn meal, animal fat and bits of meat or vegetables. Communal gardens, maintained by the enslaved, might supplement the meager supplies and what was available from hunting or fishing. Some of the cooks who emerged from these conditions became some of the highest regarded and valued among the enslaved in the regions.
Enslaved chefs blended African, Native American and European traditions to create unique Southern cuisines that featured roasted beef, veal, turkey, duck, fowl and ham. Desserts and puddings featured jellies, oranges, apples, nuts, figs and raisins. Stews and soups changed, given the season, sometimes featuring oysters or fish.
3. As artisans and builders
Slave ship manifests reveal that enslaved Africans included some who were woodcarvers and metalworkers. Others were skilled in traditional crafts, including pottery making, weaving, basketry, and wood carving. These crafts were instrumental in filling the perpetual scarcity of skilled labor on plantations.
When planters and traders considered purchasing an enslaved Black person, one of the key factors influencing their decision and the price was their skills. Slave auction sales included carpenters, blacksmiths, and shoemakers.
Architectural designs showing West African influences have been identified in structures excavated from some colonial plantations in various areas of the South Carolina Lowcountry. These buildings, with clay-walled architecture, demonstrate that the West Africans came with building skills. Excavated clay pipes in the Chesapeake region reveal West African pottery decorative techniques.
Across the nation, multiple landmarks were built by the enslaved. These include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, Fraunces Tavern and Wall Street in New York, and Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
4. As midwives, herbalists and healers
As Africans entered the Americas, they brought knowledge of medicinal plants. Some enslaved women were midwives who used medical practices and skills from their native lands. In many cases, while many of these plants were unavailable in the Americas, enslaved Africans' knowledge, and that gleaned from Native Americans, helped them to identify a range of plants that could be beneficial to treat a wide range of illnesses among both the enslaved and the enslavers. Enslaved midwives delivered babies and, in some cases, provided the means for either avoiding pregnancies or performing abortions. They also treated respiratory illnesses.
These practices and knowledge grew as they began incorporating techniques from Native American and European sources. They employed an interesting array of these practices to identify herbs, produce devices, and facilitate childbirth and maternal health and well-being. They utilized several herbal remedies, such as cedar berries, tansy, and cotton seeds to end pregnancies.
In 1721, of the 5,880 Bostonians who contracted smallpox, 844 died. Even more would have died had it not been for a radical technique introduced by an enslaved person named Onesimus, who is credited with helping a small portion of the population survive.
Onesimus, purchased by Cotton Mather in 1706, was being groomed to be a domestic servant. In 1716, Onesimus informed Mather that he had survived smallpox and no longer feared contagion. He described a practice known as variolation derived by West Africans to fight various infections.
This was a method of intentionally infecting an individual by rubbing pus from an infected person into an open wound. Onesimus explained how this treatment resulted in significantly milder symptoms, eliminating the likelihood of contracting the disease. As physicians began to wonder about this mysterious method to prevent smallpox, they developed a technique known as vaccinations. Smallpox today has been eradicated worldwide primarily because of the medical advice rendered by Onesimus.
Regardless of how Florida's education standards misrepresent history, the reality is that the Africans forced to come to America brought an enormous range of skills. They were farmers, cooks, chefs, artisans, builders, midwives, herbalists and healers. Our country is richer because of their skills, techniques, and knowledge.
Africans were not the only group subjected to forced labor in the Americas. The Irish were the initial group of forced laborers in the Americas, including Virginia. They were targeted due to their Catholic faith and longstanding anti-Catholic sentiments in England that originated in 1534 with Henry VIII's desire to obtain a divorce.
The African and Irish "servants" worked the fields together and planned a revolution together. This revolution, later known as Bacon's Rebellion, forever changed both groups and what would soon become the United States.
The Rebellion stemmed from the promise that after a service period, typically 5 to 7 years, the Irish and African servants would receive approximately 20-50 acres of land, seed, a work animal, and their freedom. Although initially, this arrangement was honored, eventually, the promised rewards were not provided. Distressed by these unmet promises, the servants rebelled against the white male planter elite. Their Rebellion achieved initial success but was ultimately defeated. Consequently, two significant developments emerged from this Rebellion: first, the white, male planter elite fabricated the concept of white privilege and convinced the Irish servants of their privileged status; second, the planter elite embraced slavery that led to the denial of all rights to the African servants.
Northern Whites, such as the Quakers and Benjamin Franklin, began earnestly to push for the abolition of slavery. Things came to a head when David Walker published an Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World in 1829. Walker argued that 'slavery violated key tenets of Christianity and the principles of freedom and equality outlined in the
Declaration of Independence". Specifically, the Appeal called for the Africans to resist oppression and to rebel against slaveholders. Slave rebellions occurred across the South. Virginia was also the site of Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831. Although the Rebellion was unsuccessful, it shook the slavocracy at its core. Ironically, it was one of the first laws Virginia passed was one banning the education of enslaved people.
It would take nearly 246 before slavery would be eradicated. Still, the consequences of both slavery and the creation of the myth of white privilege have since become a permanent and continuous fixture of our history and culture. Time does not allow me to elaborate on both, as neither time nor the theme of this moment allows me to continue. I urge you to look at my coauthored book, The Matrix of Race 3rd edition, for the full story.
The African, while enslaved, was never a slave. For to become a slave one must accept the status. The African never accepted that status as from the beginning, he could be heard, even during the American Revolution, singing
"And before I'd be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free."
And throughout their sojourn, a constant stream of songs challenged the country to make good its claims. But, the Africans refused to wait to be set free as they would "Wade in the Water" and "Steal Away" knowing that they would find "Amazing Grace" if they only would "follow the Drinkin' Gourd," and as the Israelites before them, they would indeed find their freedom as Sojourner Truth acceoted the call to "Go down (like) Moses" and challenge the enslavers to set her people free. And it was thus and the constant rebellions that led to the Civil War.
Our story now goes to a tree.
During the Civil War, numerous African Americans liberated themselves and sought refuge in locations such as Fort Monroe, Virginia. In 1831, Mary S. Peake, with assistance from the American Missionary Association, commenced teaching the children of freedmen. Her classes took place beneath an oak tree, located three miles outside of Fort Monroe, and consisted of over 50 children during the day and 20 adults at night. This site became historically significant when, in 1863, the black community gathered under the oak tree to hear the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. Since then, it has been referred to as the Emancipation Oak. The Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was founded approximately five years later, in 1868.
3) Why Juneteenth -and why we need to understand the dreams of freedom
Why are we here
The majority of African Americans remained enslaved until the conclusion of the Civil War and the enactment of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. While Congress passed the Amendment abolishing slavery on January 31, 1865, it was not until June 19, 1865, that the official announcement of Emancipation reached those enslaved in Galveston, Texas, marking the origin of the Juneteenth holiday.
The responses of formerly enslaved individuals were varied, including feelings of shocked joy, acts of retribution, expressions of gratitude and prayer, celebrations, and feelings of despair and loss. Many decided to leave the plantation and the Southern states to reunite with family members and communities separated by slavery.
Others opted to remain where they had been enslaved, seeking to experience freedom in familiar surroundings. Regardless of their choices, these formerly enslaved individuals challenged America to acknowledge their liberation and welcone them as equals. Relentlessly they endeavored to establish themselves as free citizens within the nation. Significantly, one of the primary objectives for these newly freed individuals was to pursue education. It is worth noting that during the period of slavery, teaching any Black person—whether free or enslaved—to read and write was prohibited by law in many states.
But, even under slavery, Blacks faced severe punishment, and they still found ways to support and encourage education. Therefore, it is not strange that after the war and Emancipation, the now freedmen gathered in homes, cellars, sheds, meetinghouses, and even under the shade tree in the fields where they worked the crops to learn.
They learned from each other, teachers, clergy, or older family members. They not only learned to read and write, but they retained their history as a people. Imagine the scene recorded from South Carolina, as a six-year-old girl sits beside her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother (over 75 years old), all embracing learning and reading for the first time.
White aid and benevolent societies from the North sometimes funded these free schools, such as the American Missionary Association and the National Freedmen's Relief Association, Sabbath schools, and night schools. However, most of the money to fund these schools came from the newly freed Americans, who privately sponsored their schools.
Here, dreams of freedom were born as local Blacks sought to educate themselves and their children.
Consequently, as African Americans established their schools and advocated public education, they claimed education as a basic right as citizens. This dedication of the former enslaved to education laid the foundation for publicly funded schools for Blacks and Whites throughout the South and border states.
These newly freed Americans sought to become economically independent and exercise their full civil and political rights, along with the right to education. One of these efforts' most significant outcomes was the establishment of all-Black towns across America.
These Freedmen's Towns, or All-Black towns, were established by or for a predominantly African American population. Many were founded by formerly enslaved people and existed in many of the former Southern states. For example, before the end of segregation, Oklahoma boasted dozens of these communities, while in Texas, some 357 freedom colonies have been verified and located.
Their jubilation was short-lived, as rioting whites destroyed the building but not the dreams. Hundreds of churches were bombed, buildings looted, and free persons lynched. Ultimately, saying enough was enough, the Africans responded by fleeing the South in the greatest mass migration this country has ever witnessed. They ended up in cities such as Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Boston. Again, they began to rebuild and live out their dreams. Again, freedom and dreams produced opportunities and prosperity.
4) How poetry, music, and history intertwined to produce messages of hope, resilience, and success.
Reconstruction: Songs of Power
During Reconstruction (1865-1877), Blacks expressed their hope, determination, resilience, and dreams in their music. Songs such as "Lift Every Voice and Sing," "Go Tell It on the Mountain," and "Steal Away" not only tell the story and struggles but also express hope in the future, aspirations, determination, resistance, and dreams.
Consider just a few of the verses:
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
As we "go tell it on the mountain" that our savior and salvation has come. And even though the problems may continue, we strive on as we Steal away.
The Great Migration – and Black Renaissance
Lynchings, church and school bombings caused over 6 million African Americans to leave the rural South to urban communities in the North, Midwest, and West between 1916 and 1970. The promise of economic security, justice, and freedom led to a significant demographic and cultural transformation of American cities. At the core of these transformations came what became known as the Black Renaissance, a new and novel form of scholarship, music, art, fashion, literature, theater, political systems, and identities that reshaped African American culture. At the center of these transformations were giants such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, Jessie Redmon Fauset, and Claude McKay. Individually and collectively, they challenged the negative representation of Blacks as dominant in American society. They balked at the minstrel shows featuring "Jim Crow" and the new media empire emerging in Hollywood and the likes of "Stepin Fetchit."
DuBois challenged the image, saying that it was not poor blacks and their culture that led to failure, but an inadequate system and structure based on racism that caused blacks to be poor. Or consider Zora Neal Hurston, who encouraged us to "Love" as it frees our souls. Or, as she acknowledged, "No matter how far a person can go, the horizon is still way beyond you," we must strive to continually pursue knowledge and personal growth. And who could forget the challenge and the prophecy laid down by Langston Hughes as he asks the Question:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or Does it Explode?
The answer came after two world wars, frustration at the lack of progress, a resurgence of violence targeting the Black community, and loss of voting and judicial recourse, particularly in the South. And so, the marching started, followed by sit-ins and riots -as it did explode. We call that moment -the Modern Civil Rights Movement.
During this period, we hear Billie Holiday in 1939 singing, "Black bodies swinging in the southern Breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees."
The mood would change as two white folksingers, Guy Carawan and Pete Singer, along with Joan Biaz, made "We Shall Overcome" a staple of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. But in 1963, Sam Cook declared, "A Change is Gonna Come." Yet still, Nina Simone would remind us that that that change was being frustrated, even as Medgar Evers was murdered and four black girls were killed in the Birmingham Church bombing. And so, yes, Mississippi Goddam". Still in 1968, and echoing throughout the land, was James Brown shouting, "Say it Loud, I'm black, and I'm proud".
Gil Scott watched the World shift in 1971, even after the Supreme Court declared Separate and Equal unconstitutional, and as Voting Rights, Civil Rights, and Affirmative Action became the law of the land. But still, Gil Scott proclaimed that the "Revolution Will Not Be televised." Marvin Gay similarly wondered, "What's Going On?" as the war continued, protests ensued, and police violence targeting Blacks across the Nation went unabated. Again, Blacks would take to the streets, to the beat of Z-Ro, shouting "No Justice, No Peace. It's us against the police. Every time I turn around, they shoot another brother down in these cold, cold streets." Thus, Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1973 would remind us that we must "Get Up, Stand Up." And possibly my all-time favorite, Harold Melvin and the Blue-notes, featuring Teddy Pendergrass and "Wake Up, Everybody No More Sleeping in Bed."
N.W.A. had had enough, and therefore, in 1988, declared "F*** the Police," and a year later, Public Enemy emphatically reminded us that we had to "Fight the Power. 2Pac, in 1993, dedicated "Keep Ya Head UP" in memory of a black girl who was fatally shot in 1991, just after the Rodney King beating. And two years later, Queen Lativa, challenging misogyny and the misrepresentation of black women, would declare UNITY.
Nas, in 2003, would again remind us that "I can" do all things if I just work hard enough; nothing can stop us. And as Ferguson erupted in 2014, Lauren Hill would sing about "Black rage" as "black human packages tied up in strings, Black rage can come down from all these kinds of things." Soon thereafter, in 2016, Beyonce teamed up with Kendrick Lamar and ferociously stood up for "freedom," for only complete and utter liberation would be acceptable.
5) What does history tell us about the current conversation regarding DEI
Our current moment seems to be a page from the past. Or at least an attempt to turn back the hands of time.
Few issues in the U.S. today are as controversial as diversity, equity and inclusion – commonly called DEI.
Although the term wasn't common until the 21st century, DEI is best understood as the latest stage in a long American project. Its egalitarian principles are seen in America's founding documents, and its roots lie in landmark 20th-century efforts such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and affirmative action policies, as well as movements for racial justice, gender equity, disability rights, veterans and immigrants.
These movements sought to expand who gets to participate in economic, educational and civic life. DEI programs, in many ways, are their legacy.
Critics argue that DEI is antidemocratic, that it fosters ideological conformity and that it leads to discriminatory initiatives, which they say disadvantage white people and undermine meritocracy. Those defending DEI argue just the opposite: that it encourages critical thinking and promotes democracy − and that attacks on DEI amount to a retreat from long-standing civil rights law.
Yet missing from much of the debate is a crucial question: What are DEI's tangible costs and benefits? Who benefits, who doesn't, and what are the broader effects on society and the economy?
As a sociologist, I believe any productive conversation about DEI should be rooted in evidence, not ideology. So, let's look at the research.
Who gains from DEI?
In the corporate world, DEI initiatives are intended to promote diversity, and research consistently shows that diversity is good for business. Companies with more diverse teams tend to perform better across several key metrics, including revenue, profitability and worker satisfaction.
Businesses with diverse workforces also have an edge in innovation, recruitment and competitiveness, research shows. The general trend holds for many types of diversity, including age, race and ethnicity, and gender.
A focus on diversity can also offer profit opportunities for businesses seeking new markets. Two-thirds of American consumers consider diversity when making their shopping choices, a 2021 survey found. So-called "inclusive consumers" tend to be female, younger, and more ethnically and racially diverse. Ignoring their values can be costly: When Target backed away from its DEI efforts, the resulting backlash contributed to a sales decline.
But DEI goes beyond corporate policy. At its core, it's about expanding access to opportunities for groups historically excluded from full participation in American life. From this broader perspective, many 20th-century reforms can be considered part of the DEI arc.
Consider higher education. Many elite U.S. universities refused to admit women until well into the 1960s and 1970s. Columbia, the last Ivy League university to go co-ed, started admitting women in 1982. Since the advent of affirmative action, women haven't just closed the gender gap in higher education – they outpace men in college completion across all racial groups. DEI policies have particularly benefited women, especially white women, by expanding workforce access.
Similarly, the push to desegregate American universities was followed by an explosion in the number of Black college students – a number that has increased by 125% since the 1970s, twice the national rate. With college gates open to more people than ever, overall enrollment at U.S. colleges has quadrupled since 1965. While there are many reasons for this, expanding opportunity no doubt plays a role. And a better-educated population has had significant implications for productivity and economic growth.
The 1965 Immigration Act also exemplifies DEI's impact. It abolished racial and national quotas, enabling the immigration of more diverse populations, including from Asia, Africa, southern and eastern Europe and Latin America. Many of these immigrants were highly educated, and their presence has boosted U.S. productivity and innovation.
Ultimately, the U.S. economy is more profitable and productive as a result of immigrants.
What does DEI cost?
While DEI generates returns for many businesses and institutions, it does come with costs. In 2020, corporate America spent an estimated US$7.5 billion on DEI programs. And in 2023, the federal government spent more than $100 million on DEI, including $38.7 million by the Department of Health and Human Services and another $86.5 million by the Department of Defense.
The government will no doubt be spending less on DEI in 2025. One of President Donald Trump's first acts in his second term was to sign an executive order banning DEI practices in federal agencies – one of several anti-DEI executive orders currently facing legal challenges. More than 30 states have also introduced or enacted bills to limit or entirely restrict DEI in recent years. Central to many of these policies is the belief that diversity lowers standards, replacing meritocracy with mediocrity.
But a large body of research disputes this claim. For example, a 2023 McKinsey & Company report found that companies with higher levels of gender and ethnic diversity will likely financially outperform those with the least diversity by at least 39%. Similarly, concerns that DEI in science and technology education leads to lowering standards aren't backed up by scholarship. Instead, scholars are increasingly pointing out that disparities in performance are linked to built-in biases in courses themselves.
That said, legal concerns about DEI are rising. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Justice have recently warned employers that some DEI programs may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Anecdotal evidence suggests that reverse discrimination claims, particularly from white men, are increasing, and legal experts expect the Supreme Court to lower the burden of proof needed by complainants for such cases.
The issue remains legally unsettled. However, while the cases work their way through the courts, women and people of color will continue to shoulder much of the unpaid volunteer work that powers corporate DEI initiatives. This pattern raises important equity concerns within DEI itself.
What lies ahead for DEI?
People's fears of DEI are partly rooted in demographic anxiety. Since the U.S. Census Bureau projected in 2008 that non-Hispanic white people would become a minority in the U.S. by the year 2042, nationwide news coverage has amplified white fears of displacement.
Research indicates many white men experience this change as a crisis of identity and masculinity, particularly amid economic shifts such as the decline of blue-collar work. This perception aligns with research showing that white Americans are more likely to believe DEI policies disadvantage white men than white women.
At the same time, despite DEI initiatives, women and people of color are most likely to be underemployed and living in poverty regardless of how much education they attain. The gender wage gap remains stark: In 2023, women working full-time earned a median weekly salary of $1,005 compared with $1,202 for men − just 83.6% of what men earned. Over a 40-year career, that adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings. For Black and Latina women, the disparities are even worse, with one source estimating lifetime losses at $976,800 and $1.2 million, respectively.
Racism, too, carries an economic toll. A 2020 analysis from Citi found that systemic racism has cost the U.S. economy $16 trillion since 2000. The same analysis found that addressing these disparities could have boosted Black wages by $2.7 trillion, adding up to $113 billion in lifetime earnings through higher college enrollment, and generated $13 trillion in business revenue, creating 6.1 million jobs annually.
In a moment of backlash and uncertainty, I believe DEI remains a vital, if imperfect, tool in the American experiment of inclusion. Rather than abandon it, the challenge now, from my perspective, is how to refine it: grounding efforts not in slogans or fear but in fairness and evidence.
6) What Juneteenth tells us about mental wellness and the future
Some songs are not limited by time, for their message endures then and now. Here, as I close, I would be remiss if I did not ask with Donnie McClurkin:
What do you do when you've done all you can
And it seems like it's never enough?
And what do you say when your friends turn away
And you're all alone?
Tell me, what do you give when you've given your all
And it seems like you can't make it through?
[Chorus]
Well, you just stand when there's nothing left to do
You just stand, watch the Lord see you through
Yes, after you've done all you can
You just stand.Our mental health depends upon our ability to stand. But how do we stand? by not concentrating on the problems but the possibilities. This means that every situation, every set of problems, presents us with the opportunity to come up with solutions and the ability to explore the possibilities. How do we do this? I am reminded of my mother -who after raising 3 knuckle-headed sons and retiring from a career in i.t. working for the government (yes, she was one of those hidden figures) . And at the age of 56, she did something amazing -she went back to college, got a B.A., a M.A., and completed all the course work to obtain a Ph.D. And then she stopped -I asked her why, here response she had accomplished her goals. Then she did something even more amazing, she started a new career -as an elementary school teacher. She did this for another 25 years, retiring at the ripe age of 82.
What does this have to do with mental health? Everything. The path to sound mental health is through controlling, not being controlled, by your situation. Control lies in your ability to consistently work out solutions facing you in your life, family, and career. Everyone can identify the problems, but it takes insight into working out solutions. The history of the African in America, throughout, has been one of identifying solutions to their situations. Hence they could sing of a brighter day tomorrow, amazing grace, or in the words of Aretha Franklin _RESPECT. But how do you get this -
It starts with pursuing your passions. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and knowing what you are good at. If you link your passions with your strengths, you will not only get paid, but you will continue to be ahead of the curve. And this means that you will not be trapped in a position, but you will be free to move up or move out. You will continue to be valuable to your current employer but to any others as well. Too many people get it wrong. They focus on the problems, they focus on getting paid, and they focus on the stress. Smart individuals focus on their passions, their strengths, solving problems, and thus are stress free. Consequently, you can stand, lift your voice, and sing -Oh happy days.
7) What celebrating Juneteenth has to do with today's millennials and gen-z
The future is in your hands, knowing the past equips you with the knowledge of survival skills, successful strategies, and methods for continual achievement. The history of how to convert problems into possibilities, possibilities into realities, and those realities into future accomplishments is the knowledge we gain from the processes associated with Juneteenth. And when those trouble times do come, and trust me they will come, then remember to lift your head up high and sing your favorite song, do your dance, and shout your name. Be true to yourself, acknowledging that you will not always be successful. But learn from your failure, own your history but don't let that failure own you. Learn to laugh in times of adversity with the faith that you will "Overcome", you will enjoy "Amazing Grace" and you will "Make your funk the P-Funk".
a poem by me:
Freedom Declaration in Recognition of Juneteenth
Neither by decree nor propriety
Bigotry disguised as piety.
Redundancies replicated in policies
Misaligned priorities that continually decree’s
That freedom is not free.
Enslaved, forced labor, marginalized, and criminalized.
Sanctioned, penalized, excluded
Repaired, reformed, redeemed, yet rarely remembered
Dependently assigned, arrogantly maligned, strategically designed
To recognize that freedom is not free.
Well damn, it is not you but we that declare it
It is not your task but our right to be free.
Neither your views nor your realities determine
How justice will apply to me because you see
I am free by my destiny and my struggles.
Born free, live free, earned freedom
From the walk of ancestors to the blessings of God
From the blood of saints to the death of martyrs
Liberty, justice, and equality -we decree
Free at last, Free at last – we declare - we are and forever will be free.
When our elders worked the fields as enslaved peoples, how could they sing “Oh Happy Days.” One word Joy.
One of my mom’s favorite sayings was, “You can take my money, you can take my house, you can even take my life. But one thing you can’t take is my Joy.” It took me years to understand what my mom was saying until I came across the biblical phrase, “The joy of the Lord is my Strength.” So, If you take my Joy, you take my Strength. Now I also understand how our ancestors, dealing with the trauma of slavery, could laugh and sing “Oh Happy Days.” They were not particularly happy, but they retained their Joy. And what is this thing called Joy -I would offer that Joy is hope and faith in the unseen future. It is the confidence that, though all hell is breaking out in the now, the future will be more than compensating. What did our elders see -they saw you and me walking in this now. They saw us as doctors, lawyers, engineers, computer operators and overcomers. They saw us owning houses, driving nice cars, and accomplishing wonders. This brought them, Joy. And what is your Joy -what are you hoping for? If all your hopes and dreams are about you, then you have failed to understand the Joy of our ancestors. But, if your hope and dreams are about your progeny, you will indeed find Joy.
And just in case you need some inspiration might I suggest:
Three books:
No voice is as proactive, clear, and poignant as that of Anna Julia Cooper, writing her classic, “A Voice from the South,” 21 years after the end of the Civil War, 142 years ago.
Her message — the plight, reality, and future of Black people — depended upon the Black woman's success. For too long, the Church and clergy, the politicians and educators, and even the Black man thwarted these efforts by placing constraints upon the Black woman's hopes, dreams, and opportunities. Cooper's “Voice” provides a clarion call not to look back with inflated conceit, but to glean wisdom from experiences, to capture the spiritual essence of our being and to look to the future with hope and trust. This Voice shrugged condescension and victimhood yet shouted determination and "the radical amelioration," liberation, and regeneration of the Black woman and community. Cooper ends with hope, believing black women shall arrive at the "promised land."
Almost a decade after Cooper’s “Voice” was published, W.E.B. Du Bois published “The Souls of Black Folks.”
This collection of essays articulated Du Bois' dreams toward an action plan for Black freedom in the 20th century. He began with a question, "What is it like to be a problem?" A problem complicated by prejudice, lawlessness, and ruthless competition. What is it like to be a Black and an American, two unreconciled selves, two paradoxes, two ends of a spectrum — in one body? Forty years after the promise of emancipation, freedom was still illusive to the freedman. Constantly vilified and condemned, overpoliced and undervalued, within just one generation, Blacks crafted institutions that provided escapes from the prison of poverty, mediocrity, and complacency. Yet, the soul of Black folks, the spiritual strivings of a people, was made manifest as they went from enslaved person to free, from forced laborers to skilled artisans and farmers. They created thousands of business people, clergy, teachers, and doctors in the process.
While Black history is marked by progress, resilience, and perseverance, it is easy to ignore the trials, tribulations, and suffering endured by many Blacks over the ages. Maya Angelou's “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” reminds us that it is not always a bed of roses.
This is particularly true in this autobiographical work that traces a life often interrupted by tragedy, moving from kin to kin, grandparents to separated parents, and back to grandparents. Being the ugly duckling, battered and abused (sexually, mentally, and spiritually). But after being raped, pregnant, and disgraced, she continued onward. She did not allow these obstacles to drag her into hopelessness and despair. Head held high, she continued to pursue her path, gave birth to a marvelous son, graduated from high school, and the rest is history. So why can the caged bird sing? She dreams of freedom.
As we commemorate Juneteenth once more, despite the challenges surrounding us, we will persist in lifting our voices, celebrating who we are, and how we got to where we can continue to stand …
Thank you.
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