“That day was the first day that the promise of this country is able to be realized for African Americans.”

With Juneteenth approaching and a year since the announcement about it becoming a federal holiday, SAGE’s Malcolm Trotter, DEI Advocacy Lead, shared a few words on the importance and necessity of the holiday.

To learn more about the origins of Juneteenth, the importance of celebrating the holiday, and how it can help us better understand today’s movement for equity, we recommend:

• Watching Vox’s “Why All Americans Should Honor Juneteenth”

• Watching “What is Juneteenth? History behind holiday celebrating the end of slavery”

• Listening to NPR’s “History of Juneteenth”

• Reading “Black Lives Matter and the revitalization of collective visionary leadership”

• Reading “All Americans are Not Perceived as ‘True’ Americans: Implications for Policy”

• Reading Methodspace’s “Studying Juneteenth”

Celebrating Juneteenth is an important step in educating and advancing equity in the United States. However, SAGE understands that there is much more work we as a company can do, both internally and externally, to ensure change. Our current actions include, but are not limited to:

• Working with organizations such as Leading Routes, the PhD Project, and the Academic Pipeline Project to increase representation in academia. Events we’ve had as part of these partnerships include:

  • Leading Routes’ ‘Black in Academia:’ The Careers Series

  • A three-part webinar series with the Academic Pipeline Project: ‘Building Successful Academic Pathway Programs’

• Strengthening the inclusivity of our research program

• Entering a Three-Year Partnership with Universal Write Publications to publish African- and Black-Centered titles

• Establishing a DEI Council, Working Groups, and Employee Resource Groups to lead on and provide guidance on key initiatives