Maryland CASA Recognizes Juneteenth on July 30th for 2021

Maryland CASA celebrates Juneteenth and recognizes it as a national holiday. Since our organization was not able to honor the holiday and close our offices this year, our staff and Board of Directors have agreed to recognize Juneteenth this year on Friday, July 30th, which is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The recognition of both of these national days is relevant to Maryland CASA’s efforts as the youth in foster care are significantly more vulnerable to human trafficking, and Black children are disproportionately overrepresented in foster care. Our organization is driven to stop the trafficking of children, which more often targets the children in foster care we advocate for. On this day, Maryland CASA celebrates Juneteenth while acknowledging the fact that Black women and other people of color are especially vulnerable to human trafficking. This year, we will close our offices on July 30th in hopes to call attention to Juneteenth and to the Blue Heart Campaign. The campaign was first created by the United Nations to raise awareness of the plight of victims and to build political support to fight the criminals behind trafficking. All proceeds from the Blue Heart Campaign go to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.We use this day to highlight the intersectionality of race, gender, class, age, etc., and how they relate to the disproportionalities that society currently faces. The awareness of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons has helped to uncover the racial disparities that come with human trafficking amongst many other violations of human rights.Juneteenth became an officially recognized holiday at Maryland CASA this year after June 19th. Going forward, our organization will forever honor Juneteenth as a national holiday and close its offices annually. Learn more about Juneteenth: https://youtu.be/zNTnyyplRuc.