By Ahndrea Blue
Making A Difference Foundation
We are living in an era where truth is under siege. Across the country, efforts are mounting to erase Black history from classrooms, silence honest discussions about systemic racism, and discredit the voices of those who have fought hardest for justice. And, at the very heart of this erasure is a targeted and dangerous assault on Black women.
Black women – who have always been the backbone of movements, the keepers of culture, and the champions of community – are being dismissed, disrespected, and disempowered at every turn. From public policy to media narratives, from corporate boardrooms to grassroots organizing spaces, there is a concerted effort to undermine our voices, erase our contributions, overlook our leadership, and even disregard our very existence.
This is why now, more than ever, we must celebrate Black women – boldly, publicly, and unapologetically.
As we approach Juneteenth, a day commemorating the delayed emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, we must remember that freedom has never arrived fully or equally for Black women. Even after the promise of liberation, Black women continued to shoulder the heaviest burdens – of labor, of care, of resistance, and too often, of invisibility. They raised families and communities, fought for voting rights, defended civil liberties, and led movements – only to be left out of the very history books that tell those stories.
That legacy persists today.
Black women are leading in every sector, including government, education, healthcare, business, technology, and the arts. We are organizers, caregivers, founders, innovators, and visionaries. And yet, we continue to face disproportionate wage gaps, maternal mortality rates, health disparities, underrepresentation in leadership, and the expectation to remain unshakably strong while receiving little in the way of support or recognition.
Juneteenth is not just a commemoration – it’s a call to action. It forces us to look closely at how far we’ve come and how much farther we still have to go. It reminds us that true liberation cannot exist without the liberation of Black women. And it insists that we center Black women not just as part of the story but as the heartbeat of it.
In a time of book bans, rewritten history, and political rhetoric designed to divide and diminish, celebrating Black women is a radical act. It is an act of resistance. It is a refusal to be erased. To celebrate Black women is to honor our truths, our labor, our resilience, and our brilliance. It is to say unequivocally that we are the architects of our futures – and we are not going anywhere.
Let this Juneteenth be more than symbolic. Let it be transformational. Let it be a renewed commitment to uplift Black women not only in words but in action. Support our leadership. Fund our work. Protect our histories. Believe in our futures.
Because in a time when they are trying so hard to silence us, choosing to celebrate Black women isn’t just important – it’s revolutionary.
Ahndrea Blue is the Founder and President/CEO of Making A Difference Foundation. Making A Difference Foundation’s mission is to make a difference in the lives of others, one person at a time, by helping them acquire the most basic human needs: food, housing, encouragement, and opportunity. To learn more about the organization and its hunger-related programs, please visit www.themadf.org or call (253) 212-2778.