More than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, the news of freedom finally reached enslaved Black people in Texas on June 19, 1865. While this history began in Texas, Juneteenth tells a larger story about the American South, making clear that liberation will never be achieved through declarations alone; rather, it must be continually built, nurtured, and expanded.
For generations, Black Southerners led the work of turning the promise of emancipation into reality. Organizing, mobilizing, and leading movements within one of the most hostile landscapes in the country, they developed the grounded, effective strategies for social change:
- Formerly enslaved farmers pooled their savings to purchase land, creating independent towns, schools, and churches.
- Communities organized cooperatives and alliances to build economic power and challenge the exploitative conditions of sharecropping.
- Neighbors raised money through churches and community networks to defend and expand political participation when laws were created to shut Black folks out.
Over a century later, the work to make freedom real continues on the same land where our ancestors laid the groundwork. The South remains the testing ground for who has access to safety, healthcare, education, and civic participation, and Black communties—especially Black disabled, queer, and trans folks—continue to face the greatest barriers to these basics rights. Black Southern organizers are dismantling those barriers, utilizing generations of wisdom to advance the promise of Juneteenth: a world where Black communities have the freedom, resources, and power to determine their own lives. At Borealis Philanthropy, we are honored to support the communities carrying forward this lineage and—while these groups represent just a glimpse of a large ecosystem—we are privileged to spotlight a few brilliant partners leading the way:
People’s Advocacy Institute
Across Mississippi, Black communities are often denied a meaningful voice in the decisions shaping their safety and futures. Through participatory budgeting campaigns, community safety initiatives, and voter engagement, People’s Advocacy Institute builds the civic power residents need to shift public policy and hold officials accountable.
SpiritHouse South
Grounded in the belief that true safety comes from communities taking care of their own, SpiritHouse South, a collective in Durham, North Carolina, is building systems of care that support Black communities, particularly Black queer, trans, and disabled people. Through mutual aid networks that provide emergency housing and food, alongside training in community-centered conflict resolution, they are creating pathways to healing, accountability, and belonging.
Beyond the Bars
In South Florida, Black workers, migrants, and formerly incarcerated folks are often denied fair labor standards and economic stability. Through its Temp Worker Organizing Committee, paid leadership fellowships, and policy campaigns, Beyond the Bars is building the civic power residents need to combat workplace abuse, reform probation policies, and create a more equitable local economy.
Southern Movement Committee
Southern Movement Committee (SMC) organizes Black communities in Tennessee to shape the policies, budgets, and resources that affect their lives. Through community assemblies, leadership fellowships, youth organizing, and civic engagement, SMC is holding community assemblies, leadership fellowships, youth organizing, and civic engagement gatherings to build the power and networks needed to drive lasting structural change across Tennessee.
Transgender Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering (TAKE)
Led by Black trans women in the heart of Alabama, TAKE is a blueprint for regional organizing, dismantling the systems that shut out and marginalize trans people of color across the South. By providing emergency financial aid and safe housing alongside political education at the Monica Roberts Freedom School, TAKE protects their community from immediate crises while building up and nurturing the next generation of leaders.
Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
Across Louisiana, institutional barriers systematically deny Black families equitable education while deliberately funneling youth into the justice system Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children counters this through parent advocacy training, campaigns to close youth prisons, and holistic family resource networks, building the collective power needed to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.
How Can Funders Support the Promise of Juneteenth?
The promise of Juneteenth cannot be fulfilled through commemoration alone, it requires deep, sustained investment in the Southern leaders and communities which are building power every single day. For the past decade, Borealis Philanthropy has moved more than $40 million to grassroots organizers holding the front line and fighting for justice for Black communities in the South and beyond. Yet, we know we cannot do this work alone—and the need for long-term, flexible resources is just as urgent as ever. To move beyond reactive funding and turn the promise of Juneteenth into a sustained reality, we invite our funding partners to practice these commitments:
- Fund communities, not moments: Support organizations serving Black communities year-round, not only during elections, crises, or moments of heightened public attention.
- Commit to the long haul: Provide sustained, flexible funding that allows organizations to build power, respond to emerging needs, and plan for the future.
- Trust community expertise: Resource the people closest to the challenges and trust them to define the solutions their communities need.
- Invest in participation: Support the organizing, leadership development, advocacy, and community infrastructure that make civic participation possible.
- Invest in Black leadership close to home: Learn who is organizing, building power, and expanding opportunity in Black communities where you live—and explore how you can support their work with sustained resources.
And finally, partner with community-rooted intermediaries like Borealis to support the organizations serving communities across the South and nationwide. Together, we can help ensure that the promise of Juneteenth is carried forward through continued investment in the people building a more just, inclusive, and participatory democracy.