TFAH Recognizes Juneteenth

(Washington, DC – June 18th, 2024)

In honor of our mission to promote optimal health for every person and community, TFAH is proud to celebrate and recognize Juneteenth.

The Juneteenth federal holiday recognizes the end of Black enslavement in Texas in 1865 — a two-and-a half-year delay of freedom after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The holiday celebrates the resilience and achievement of Black Americans and also serves as a reminder that structural racism, especially for Black Americans, continues to be a barrier to well-being and opportunity for many in this country.

TFAH is committed to advancing policies that ensure equitable access to the economic, social and environmental factors that allow people to enjoy optimal health. Supporting these efforts advances opportunities for communities of color facing structural disadvantage. That includes:

• Make advancing health equity and eliminating health disparities a national priority.
• Support community-driven, multisector efforts to address upstream drivers of poor health through CDC’s Social Determinants of Health and Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Programs.
• Invest in a diverse public health workforce and build the pipeline of workers, including through loan repayment and other recruiting and retention programs.
• Ensure the public health infrastructure meets the needs of all communities, including complete, disaggregated data collection.
• Ensure access to high-quality healthcare for all.
• Create a national standard guaranteeing job-protected paid family, sick, and medical leave for all employees.
• Expand efforts to protect against health impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, which disproportionately impact populations of color.
• Increase nutrition security through successful programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and alleviate poverty through tax credits for working families, such as Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Center communities and people of color when developing health promoting strategies. Agencies and organizations should work with communities that are disproportionately impacted and incorporate their voice and lived experience in decision-making wherever possible.