A Juneteenth Message from the Executive Director
Happy Freedom Day, Illinois!
On June 19, 1865, over 250,000 enslaved Black people were told of their freedom when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas. The troops arrived approximately 30 months after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Today, ICJIA and the State of Illinois celebrate June Nineteenth (Juneteenth), an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth is known to be the longest-celebrated Black holiday. Today’s celebration is an occasion for Americans to acknowledge the lives and liberty of enslaved people. Today is also a time to reflect on our country’s complex history with race. The end of slavery did nothing to change the historical underpinnings of racism, which disenfranchised Black communities nationwide.
Intentional and deliberate actions are required to heal the harm Black communities experience due to persistent inequities, structural racism, increased violence, and other systemic isms. Effective public safety policies must address decades of economic disinvestment in the Black community, which led to poverty, violence, and the overuse of incarceration. Equity, fairness, and opportunity are the overarching priorities for every program and project administered by ICJIA.
ICJIA’s Statewide Violence Prevention Plan promotes healing and equity-building by removing barriers to grant and economic opportunities. The plan supports funding for culturally responsive, trauma-informed practices and programs for individuals, families, and communities. The initiatives also encourage restorative justice practices, which decrease justice system involvement in communities while repairing harm to individuals and creating paths for healing.
ICJIA’s innovative approach to advancing equity, specifically with Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) and Violence Prevention Program funding, targets localized grassroots organizations. As a result, ICJIA has increased R3 and violence prevention funding access and availability to historically underinvested, under-resourced Black, Latinx, and rural communities. ICJIA is investing in smaller, new, and emerging community-based organizations that can solve challenges at the local level.
Equity will remain at the center of ICJIA’s work, and even with the challenges, we have administered unprecedented investments in Illinois’ most vulnerable communities. In the spirit of Juneteenth, we remain committed to advancing equity, promoting healing, building effective partnerships, and advancing anti-racist frameworks across every sector of the criminal justice system.
Delrice Adams, ICJIA Executive Director