This is how corporate Juneteenth observances are evolving, according to DE&I execs

While long celebrated by Black Americans, Juneteenth has gained a broader understanding and recognition since 2020, when the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police and the resulting racial reckoning prompted many organizations to observe the holiday for the first time.

“It’s very important that we understand that there’s more than one independence day that’s held as really important in this country,” said Elizabeth Morrison, chief diversity, inclusion & belonging officer at Levi Strauss & Co.

Since June 19 falls on a Sunday this year – coinciding with Father’s Day – many organizations will be celebrating the following week.

From hasty celebrations put together in a few weeks in 2020 to more thoughtful, elaborate observances in 2021 and even its establishment as a federal holiday, organizations of all kinds are working to grow their programming and storytelling around Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned that they had been freed – two years earlier.

Adrianne Smith, chief diversity & inclusion officer for FleishmanHillard, notes that this delay echoes a contemporary problem: information dissemination. While communication is much faster these days than it was in 1865, the gap persists for many people of color, Smith says: “That was clearly identified during COVID times … where many communities of color did not have access to computers or the internet so there was a problem.”

Morrison and Smith sat down with PR Daily to discuss how their organizations are marking Juneteenth in 2022, how the holiday fits into their overall DE&I strategies and the mistakes you need to avoid.

The evolution of Juneteenth

Both Levi Strauss and FleishmanHillard first observed Juneteenth in 2020, in response to the racial justice protests that marched across the country. And both organizations saw the holiday as something that was desired by both internal and external audiences.

“It’s such an important part of what we do in terms of recognizing different cultures within our organization and celebrating what’s important to our people,” Smith said.

The organizations both now offer Juneteenth as a paid holiday. For its own employees, FleishmanHillard is marking the day with local observances at its offices. They’re also encouraging workers to spend the day in education, reflection or service.

Levi Strauss’s approach to the holiday is multipronged with an in-office event on June 23 with performances from the Alonzo King Dance Company, a facilitated Q&A with lead dancer Adji Cissoko and more. A global message from Morrison will include a resource guide on the holiday, mindfulness tips to handle ongoing racial trauma, such as the racist shooting in Buffalo, and ideas on how to celebrate the holiday.

Externally, the company’s Dockers brand will release a content story with will release a content story with Selema Masekela, TV host, sports commentator, actor and singer. It will explore the intersection of Father’s Day and Juneteenth, which fall on the same day this year. But this isn’t a one-off. Masekela has partnered with Dockers for the past year and has an upcoming product collab coming this fall.

“That is truly embedded in storytelling, and not just once-a-year storytelling, but how can we enable stories to live on with our employees internally and then obviously with consumers and other key stakeholders externally,” Morrison said.

Not just a one-day commitment

When considering your own Juneteenth approach, Morrison suggested your first question should be to ask how it fits into your overall DE&I strategy.

For Morrison, that means celebrating and including marginalized communities, but also bringing in allies and reconsidering what company culture means overall.

“Back in the day people used to always say, ‘Oh, is that person a culture fit?’ We look for culture contributors, so people that are going to continue to add to the richness of our culture, to the diversity of our workforce whether it’s generational, it’s ethnic, it’s gender, it’s perspective, it’s background. We’re looking for that richness because we think it’s really what makes us better.”

FleishmanHillard counsels its clients that their commitment to the holiday must go beyond just offering a day off work.

“We’re advising them to be mindful when they’re communicating to use action items,” Smith said. “If you’re not doing anything meaningful that day in terms of the holiday, you’re tailoring those messages internally to avoid performative actions and backlash.”

Walmart made headlines when it announced a Juneteenth-themed ice cream flavor in its stores. The move was widely panned as an attempt to cash in on the holiday. Both Smith and Morrison strongly advised against similar action that breaks two cardinal rules: being performative and attempting to profit.

Companies that aren’t getting it right are “showing up in performative ways and not lifting up the actual Black and brown voices that they should be lifting up and instead really commercializing it,” Morrison said. She suggests asking if your Juneteenth observances feel like an outlier, or part of an everyday commitment to issues and culture that matter to Black audiences.

Even if it is your first year and it doesn’t feel organic to your overall efforts, it might be a good place to start. “I hope people can really recognize it in a way that aligns with their values and is supported by their values,” Morrison said.

The future of Juneteenth

Smith and Morrison both recognize that Juneteenth will continue to become commercialized by some and be subject to performative action in the future. However, they are also hopeful that education around the holiday and its meaning will continue to grow and lead to real action for organizations.

“This is an opportunity for us as an organization to invest inside and outside our organization to just give insight to people who are different and ‘other than’ so that we are more credible counselors,” Smith said. “The more we know as an organization the better we are able to advise our clients on issues that may come up so that they can prevent moments like this ‘Walmart wallet moment’ where they’re collecting and cashing in on that.”

Whether you’re at an agency or in-house, Morrison’s advises keeping the focus on what communicators do best: telling stories that include everyone.

“Get more comprehensive in storytelling, in increasing your representation, in building a culture of inclusion and belonging and being intentional about that for your Black and brown employees.”