Date: June 23, 2026
Last Friday, we celebrated the recently federally recognized holiday of Juneteenth. And, this year, more than ever, I found myself thinking a lot about memory; how it is carried, preserved, and passed down across generations. June 19, 1865, was the day when news of emancipation finally reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas— more than two years after freedom had been declared. As I took time to reflect on the significance of this date, I couldn’t ignore the generations of Black communities who chose to remember it, to mark it, and to carry it forward for us all.
Long before Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday, it lived in the collective memory of Black folks throughout the south. It was sustained through annual commemorations, storytelling, and the rituals we passed down from one generation to the next as both an affirmation of freedom and a witness to the enduring legacy of Black oral tradition. That act of remembering, held over time, is what made broader recognition possible.
What this teaches us is that the work of memory is ongoing. Through the Reparations Program, we are continually uncovering the names and lives of those whose labor sustained the Seminary. In this context, Juneteenth takes on a particular resonance. It reminds us that the histories we are recovering are not distant, rather, they are part of the living fabric of VTS and the wider Alexandria community.
Juneteenth, then, is not only a commemoration. It is an invitation to practice a more intentional remembering—one that honors the past while shaping how we truthfully carry it forward with care and accountability.
Ebonee Davis-Hayes
Directory of Reparations
Office of Multicultural Ministries