Juneteenth 2026 Blog
Hello Rising Hearts community,
Happy Juneteenth! Indigenous solidarity, love and support for Black brothers and sisters and for a thriving and beautiful community. Reminder to our Indigenous relatives, support your Black Indigenous kin. Our histories are braided together. Celebrate Black history, art, voices, culture, music, their resilience, and support Black owned businesses, artists, organizers and advocates! There is so happening in our country and world, and we have to strive to always do better and be better.
Elevate Black voices and content today and all throughout the year. Give back if you can. Venmo / Donate if you can!! Show your support, respect and appreciation.
JUNETEENTH | FREEDOM DAY | 1865
- Rising Hearts
About Juneteenth:
June 19th, 1865 is the day when 2,000 Union troops came to Galveston TX and reached the last group of enslaved people in Texas to ensure they were freed. The Emancipation Proclamation happened 2.5 years prior on January 1, 1863, but many enslavers continued to enslave Black people and held them captive after the announcement. Full legal abolishment didn’t happen until December 1865 through the 13th Amendment, which still allowed “slavery” as a form of punishment, like the criminal justice system we see today. June 19th, Juneteenth, has become symbolic to represent freedom and Black liberation - that is still fought for to this day.
The year following 1865, freedmen in TX organized the first annual celebration called "Jubilee Day " June 19th. Following this celebration, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, bbqs, prayer services, and other activities, as Black people migrated from TX to other parts of the country as the Juneteenth tradition began to spread.
Congress passed a bill, making June 19 - Juneteenth a National Independence Day, federal holiday. Celebrations have been happening for a long time, before this ever became recognized by the Government. And this is a day of joy and to center, while still fighting racism and the systems of oppression that the government continues to perpetuate. Support Black voices, organizers, artists, creatives, musicians, athletes, teachers, lawyers, friends, and the Black community. Uplift. Protect. Respect. Don't be performative. Show Up everyday, not just on Juneteenth.
VOICES TO FOLLOW
Respect their voice. Respect their space. Learn from them. Don't be extractive. Be resourceful in your education. Compensate them. Don't flood their DM's asking questions unless solicited or approach it in a way that is respectful. Don't DM saying they are wrong. That is not your lived experience. Then compensate.
BOOK HIGHLIGHT
I’m DeAndra (Dee-On-dru) an illustrator, graphic designer, storyteller and teacher based in Washington D.C. No matter the project, my work is always bright and energetic with an imaginative flare. I especially love drawing people, joy filled celebrations, and lots of colorful quilt patterns. Last year I got to work on a dream project of mine, which was illustrating a book about Juneteenth! "Tell Me About Juneteenth" follows a curious young girl who wants to know what the first ever Juneteenth was like, so she goes around asking different members of her community until she finds the answer.
This book was so special to me for many reasons. Juneteenth is a holiday where we honor our enslaved ancestors, think about the atrocities they went through, as well as acknowledging how far we've come since then. I loved getting to draw from real life moments with my family while illustrating this book and all the characters in it! The whole book is full of so much joy and celebration, and I'm truly touched by all the positive feedback I've received from my own community who've read the book!
"Tell Me About Juneteenth" is written by Kortney Nash and published by Macmillian.
Readers can use this Bookshop.org link to purchase the book! It's a great way to support local bookstores in the area as opposed to buying from Amazon.
Team Rising Hearts at Run Juneteenth DC
Let’s celebrate these amazing humans, inspiring community runners, who ran the Run Juneteenth Half Marathon and 10k last weekend! They have helped promote Rising Hearts and some of them have helped fundraise for the heart work we are grateful to keep doing. Team Rising Hearts has 6 runners - Mel Devoney, Rocío Villalobos, Alex Staten, Shayla Manitowabi Huebner, Alexis Saenz, and Jordan Whetstone. This was an opportunity to show up, learn, and enjoy nature with community!
Rising Hearts is committed to showing up for community, learning, and growing with community. We are so excited to have participated in the 7th Annual Run Juneteenth event, cheer each other on, and enjoy this opportunity as we move forward as runners, friends and allies. We look forward to more connections and friends!
Not only have we been connected with Freddie (founder) and Run Juneteenth via an RIDC panel in 2025, it’s led to more communication, ideas, and finding ways to support and/or collaborate and elevate. Thanks to receiving funding to bring 6 of our runners to participate, it gave us memories and experience to remember - we can’t wait until next year!! Rising Hearts also donated $500 to support RUN JUNETEENTH efforts in the community! See you out there next year on June 19, 2027!
ABOUT JUNETEENTH MARATHON
Juneteenth Marathon aims to organize/coordinate an annual running event that formally and physically brings together the many disparate local running communities throughout the Washington, DC-Baltimore region and beyond.
Our mission is three-fold:
Foster fellowship between participating runners, run clubs, volunteers and the community at large;
Provide a platform for runners to support their local/community-based running clubs throughout the region;
Leverage the collective resources/decision-making potential of runners throughout the region to help improve their local running communities, the localities to which they belong and, in turn, their individual lives.
Run Reflections
Alexis Saenz | Charity Bib Runner - Rising Hearts Program Coordinator
“This was my first race ever and let me tell you… I wasn’t ready! haha I was ready for the race in the sense that I got ample sleep and rest, I had all the resources I needed to run a good race and I had a run teammate to pace me. What I was not ready for, was this type of course. I haven’t run that many hills in my training and let a lone a trail woods area. I’m not going to lie, I wanted to cry the first three miles. This race definitely showed me how much more I have to go and what I need to work on. I’ve said this in my reflections before, running really teaches you about yourself. What has running taught me about myself? It’s taught me that I can be so negative and hard on myself and on the flip side how consistent and committed I am. It’s constantly shocked me in my abilities and has humbled me with pain and injuries. And somehow I still show up, but why? I’ve been trying to ask myself what my why is. While I’ve said in the past it’s for my mental health and it’s good for me. I honestly think it’s because of the support I have, I would NOT have been able to finish this race if it wasn’t for the resources I’ve received from Rising Hearts and all of the brands that sponsor us. I wasn’t ready for the course, but I had all the proper things I needed to finish it the way I did and I feel so incredibly privileged for the support I have, because this sport is difficult and having the proper gear and fuel is not cheap! I had an injury a week prior to this race and I know that if I didn’t have these resources I definitely would have dropped out of the race. I still can’t believe I ran a half marathon on a course that was that hard and injured at that! I’m so incredibly proud of myself. I’m so incredibly thankful. As hard as it was, I am that much more resilient and strong and I can do hard things.
Shout out to Alex for pacing me for the whole race. It definitely would have been even harder without you! Thank you! <3”
Alex Staten | RWP Athlete Advocate
“This was my first Rising Hearts team experience, and it felt like I was back with my high school cross-country team. Everyone was incredibly supportive of each other, and even though it was a tough race, we all ran with joy and purpose. The race atmosphere was one of the best I've ever experienced. Everyone wished each other a good race, and we collectively took care of each other. It was a beautiful way to celebrate Juneteenth and practice gratitude for being able to run and share the trail with so many people.”
Jordan Marie Whetstone | Rising Hearts Founder/ED, Athlete Advocate
”OMG - what an incredible weekend we had with Team Rising Hearts!! Why did we show up? Well, that idea began after I sat on a panel with Freddie, the founder of RUN JUNETEENTH, with the Running Industry Diversity Coalition and a few other local DC voices about being on the trails, and showing up for community. After that panel, Freddie and I quickly chatted and over the months, we have stayed in touch, and for me, watching from afar, what he does for community, really resonated. So when I saw those emails come out and the graphics shared on the Run Juneteenth IG, calling on people to participate in the 7th Annual Run Juneteenth event and to donate, I knew we had to get a Rising Hearts team out there to DC!
After a few months of pitching this idea, and submitting for grants, we finally received a yes, and funds, that would help cover this trips and get our athletes and friends out here to join. What a relief that was! And it’s so important to me and for Rising Hearts, that we show up how we can, we learn, and we be part of community. I was so happy when Alex, Lex, Shayla, Mel and Rocío said yes! We have our little team and we are ready to celebrate and enjoy the trails with everyone!
Big shout out to Freddie, for being so kind and generous with gifting us comped entries to this event, and for that we also donated $500 to support Run Juneteenth efforts! We can’t wait to run in the 8th Annual Run Juneteenth event on June 19, 2027, bring a team a runners and a team of volunteers to support!
Thank you so much to my girls, for being so amazing!! Shining, vibing, and thriving!”
Mel Devoney | Rising Hearts Athlete and Charity Runner
This human continues to shine and show up for Rising Hearts and community!!! We are so happy she’s family and was part of this experience with us!!! Mel ran a strong run! She’s trail runner, road runner, ultra runner - does all the things and is part of so much from run clubs, ultra relays like the SoCal Ragnar Relay, The Speed Project, to being the coffee connoisseur. She’s brings the vibes!
Shayla Manitowabi-Huebner | Rising Hearts Athlete Advocate and Charity Runner
Shayla ran a strong run! And even won the overall Women’s field! This was Shayla’s first time joining Rising Hearts for an in person experience. And she’s been a Running With Purpose Athlete Advocate for Rising Hearts for almost 4 years now. And a 2 year charity runner. She’s run Boston, CIM, Shiprock and so many amazing runs, helps give back to the youth, and was even inducted to the sport hall of fame at her unversity! We are so happy she’s part of this family with us and that we were able to create fun and glittery memories!
Rocío Villalobos | Rising Hearts Athlete Advocate
”What an incredible weekend experiencing @runjuneteenth with @rising_hearts!
We had such a great time together and I enjoyed everything about Run Juneteenth. There was so much love and care that went into every detail. Given the number of people who chose this as their first trail race, or first race ever period, it shows that other people felt that too.
I loved getting to visit the National Museum of the American Indian and eating at the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe again!! | had been wanting to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture and I'm so grateful I finally had a chance to go. The exhibits are so well done... heavy but also beautiful and super impactful. Black history is American history and there are so many lessons that will always be relevant in the present. Especially as we're facing this current iteration of fa$cism...
Thank you @rising_hearts for bringing us together. So grateful to spend some time with y'all @alexandria.staten @lexxsaenz @meldevoney @nativein_la @smanitowabi -
such powerhouses!! My heart is full and my soul feels nourished.”