YWCA, Kennedy Health Center to honor Juneteenth in Worcester

Photo | Grant Welker Worcester City Hall

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A small number of area businesses and organizations plan to commemorate Juneteenth in some form on Friday this year, another indicator of renewed momentum behind the Black Lives Matter movement.

Juneteenth, which takes place annually on June 19, marks the official end to legal slavery in the United States. The unofficial American holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when the Union army — some two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — read the federal orders to end enslavement in Galveston, Texas.

Following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month and the ensuing protests against police brutality against black people, as well as systemic racism, advocates have asked companies and organizations to publicly declare their commitments to anti-racism work. One initiative appears to be growing in popularity is officially commemorating the Juneteenth holiday.

A small but growing number of businesses operating in Central Mass. are heeding that call. Among them are Worcester-based YWCA Central Massachusetts, the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in Worcester, Santander Bank, which has its American headquarters in Boston but which operates branches throughout the state, and HEARD Strategy & Storytelling, the Worcester-based marketing firm.

In a Wednesday press release, the YWCA said it is encouraging the organization’s employees to use the holiday as an opportunity to learn more about the history of Juneteenth, as well as ways to continue the YWCA’s efforts to address and dismantle structural and institutional racism.

“In doing this, we’re helping with the mission to promote, cultivate knowledge, and appreciation of Black American/African American history of freedom and achievement, and culture,” said executive director Linda Cavaioli, in a statement.

Kennedy Community Health also made Juneteenth an official holiday for the organization. Beginning with its next fiscal year, which starts July 1, Kennedy Community Health staff may select to take Juneteenth as a holiday as part of their benefits package.

“For years, many individuals and elected officials across our country have tried to make Juneteenth a federal or state holiday to no avail,” Stephen Kerrigan, the health center's president and CEO, said in a statemnt. “We decided not to wait any longer and live up to our social justice roots by making Juneteenth one of the holidays we celebrate as an organization. By celebrating the end of slavery in the United States, we hope to send a clear message that Kennedy Community Health is a place that honors and respects diversity and celebrates freedom and equality."

Santander, in turn, announced in a statement to customers on Wednesday its call centers and branches would close at noon on Friday.

“This year, Juneteenth is especially moving as our nation wrestles with inequities and injustices that have persisted throughout its history with renewed urgency,” U.S. CEO Tim Wennes said in the announcement.

Like the YWCA, the bank encouraged its employees to take the afternoon as a time of reflection.

HEARD Strategy & Storytelling plans to establish Juneteenth as an annual company holiday, as well as share tributes to black culture across its social media channels throughout the day. The firm will match employee NAACP donations at 200%. The Thursday announcement is part of a four-part strategy to implement diversity initiatives and affirm the company’s commitment to promoting racial equality.

Locally, the Black Heritage Juneteenth Festival Committee in Worcester plans to hold its annual Juneteenth festival virtually. The City of Worcester promotes the event via its City’s Culture Development Division, said Walter Bird Jr., a city communication and media relations official.

Other area organizations, like Anna Maria College in Paxton, plan to commemorate the holiday through its online and social media channels.

At UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest employer in Central Massachusetts, president and CEO Eric Dickson updated employees in a message Friday on what the health system is doing on race-based matters.

The efforts, he said, have included a new group, composed of executives, that focuses on the causes and effects of racial and other disparities in health care. The group's work will include creating mitigation strategies to address identified disparities, including supporting expanded outreach, education and testing to prevent further spread of coronavirus in disproportionately affected populations.

Listening sessions are also planned with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Dickson said he's also received about 30 ideas from staff on how to address racial inequities.

"I recognize that there is more work to be done within UMass Memorial to understand and address deep-rooted health care disparities in our service area and to improve the diversity and inclusivity of our own workforce," Dickson wrote. "I hope I can count on all of you to join me in this journey, so we can continue the conversation and solve these issues together."