Today we celebrate Juneteenth—the emancipation of African Americans from slavery.
It marked a pivotal moment in history: an Exodus for a people who had endured generations of hard, forced labor without pay, without rights, without the dignity of freedom.
It was a powerful beginning. But more than 150 years later, we must ask ourselves:
Are we truly free?
Back then, our ancestors were fighting to be freed from physical chains. Today, the chains may look different, but they still exist. Some of us are still enslaved—this time, to systems, mindsets, and cycles that keep us bound.
Modern-Day Slavery? Working Hard, But Still Not Free
Have we become comfortable with modern-day slavery. We labor, sometimes exhaustively, for compensation, but with little sense of freedom. Yes, we get paid, but we’re often trapped in systems that rob us of time, creativity, identity, and purpose.
We wake up early, clock in, meet deadlines, and go home drained, repeating the cycle daily, hoping to make it to retirement at 65. And in the process, we forget who we are.
What happened to the dream of writing that book?
What happened to the poem that once danced on the edge of our thoughts?
What happened to the inventions, the community programs, the ministries, the healing ideas that we once believed could change the world?
We say we don’t have time. But we do. We’ve just traded it in for survival.
My Journey: From System to Self
Before I chose the path of pursuing a PhD, I was a scientist blessed with opportunities to travel and learn from various cultures across the globe. I loved every moment of it—spending weeks to months learning techniques that could improve how we do things back home.
But when I returned, I often found my knowledge stopped at a PowerPoint. Implementation was blocked—by bureaucracy, inefficiency, or fear of change. And I began to wonder:
Why are we learning if we never apply what we know?
Is knowledge just for knowledge’s sake?
Eventually, I realized that if I wanted to create lasting change, I would need to separate myself from the system. I had to shift from an employee mindset to a creator’s mindset—from waiting for permission to taking initiative.
That shift wasn’t easy. And it was not even voluntary. God closed the doors to me getting a job and I had to dig deep to find out who I was. Every part of me wanted to go back. And for a while, I did when fear crept in. Why? Because it felt safer to just “do the work,” get a paycheck, and ignore the quiet ache of a life unlived.
But freedom doesn’t always feel safe—it feels unfamiliar and uncertain. And that unfamiliarity and uncertainty is what most of us are avoiding.
Why Are We Still Fighting?
So here we are. Generations removed from slavery, yet still fighting. But the fight has changed.
- We’re fighting to remember who we are.
- We’re fighting to break free from systems that limit our creativity.
- We’re fighting to reclaim our time, our families, and our voices.
- We’re fighting to rediscover our dreams not just for ourselves, but for the generations watching us.
- We’re fighting to move from self to purpose
Some of us have awakened. That’s why we have entrepreneurs, artists, authors, creators, community builders. But many still haven’t realized that there is an alternative to the cycle. That there’s more.
For those of us who are self-employed, we need to grow. We see youths unemployed on the streets, we complain. But what if we are the ones to create jobs? Why not us?
And so the question remains:
Why Do We Celebrate?
We celebrate not just to look back, but to look forward.
We honor the fight for physical freedom while awakening to the battle for freedom of our souls.
We celebrate Juneteenth because it reminds us that freedom is worth fighting for—even now.
But let our celebration not be empty. Let it challenge us.
To think. To reflect.
To ask ourselves—am I really free?
And if not, what am I willing to do about it?
With grace and growth
Sanchia and team.