Here is an email sent from our co-founder, Eric Neef, to the entire evolv team on Friday, June 19th, 2020. It’s great to have a company that respects and honors all people and their heritage.
Today is Juneteenth, an important day in history, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Liberation Day. Juneteenth is an unofficial American holiday and an official Texas state holiday.
On January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation declaring, “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free.” Imagine back then, with no modern communications and due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order, The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on Texans. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, the Union forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
In fact, that declaration did not reach Galveston, TX until 2 ½ years later on June 19th, 1865.
On that day, Union Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This news resulted in immediate jubilation and began what later became celebrated as Juneteenth.
It has been exciting to see some of the leading and forward thinking companies led by Nike, Twitter and many others that have either made this day a company holiday or have asked their employees to cancel meetings and use this day for rest and reflection (Amazon, Google, Microsoft).
As with all client observed holidays, when evolv is working with a client that observes Juneteenth as a Corporate Holiday, the evolv team working with that client will observe that holiday with them.
Please do take some time today to reflect, read and learn more about this day and about the racial issues our country has faced for hundreds of years which have been brought to focus in recent weeks.
We want a company that is inclusive of all, built on equality and celebrates diversity. Please take some time today to reflect on how you can play your part in that.
Here’s a little video with some history about Juneteenth:
Have a great day and weekend!
