June already has its share of monthly observances, including Pride, ALS awareness and African American Music Appreciation. Let me add one more to the list: It should be National Vigilance Month.
There is Juneteenth this month, of course, Monday's holiday celebrating African Americans' final emancipation from enslavement. And three summers ago, we had the all-too-brief rebellion against racism and police brutality in the wake of a terrible few months filled with Black death. Both arrived at historical moments when America had a choice to either collectively progress towards racial equity or remain true to its bloody roots.
I'm reminded now of something that a policing expert told me when I wrote about Juneteenth three years ago, as the uprising was swelling around the world. Speaking about emancipation, he told me "it took so much blood and so much treasure that the nation was too exhausted to stay focused on what you do to actually build freedom." He touched upon what I sense looking at today's America. Folks are tired. I know I am.
