#VBGIVESBACK

Freedom Day. Jubilee Day. Liberation Day. This Sunday is Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. In honor of the holiday, Veronica Beard will be donating 10% of sales across our VB stores nationwide on June 19th to one of our favorite organizations: The Loveland Foundation, which brings opportunity and healing to communities of color, and especially to Black women and girls.

Founded by Rachel Cargle, the nonprofit is dedicated to making mental healthcare accessible through its therapy fund in addition to fellowships, residency programs, listening tours, and more. "When we invest in the mental health of Black women and girls it not only causes shifts their lives, but it overflows into their homes, families, communities and the generations that may come from them," Cargle writes. "Black women and girls deserve access to healing, and that healing will impact generations."

To donate directly, click here, and for our starter list on how to celebrate Juneteenth, keep reading.

To Do

1. Sign up for The Great Unlearn, a self-paced online learning platform, also founded by Cargle. The virtual classroom is an incredible resource to unlearning racism, complete with syllabi, guest lecturers, live streams, text readings, even "study halls."
2. Walk for a cause. Since 2016, activist Opal Lee has walked 2.5 miles every year to recognize the 2.5 years it took for the news of freedom to reach all enslaved people in the United States. This June 18th, join an Opal's Walk event near you—or register to walk virtually, wherever you are here—here. Or if you're in Fort Worth, Texas, join 95-year-old Ms. Lee herself. Yes, 95. No excuses.
3. Support Black-owned businesses and keep supporting them throughout the year. Some of our favorites from our #MAKEITHAPPEN and VB Edit community include thirteen lune's Nyakio Grieco, Fanm Djanm's Paola Mathé, The Sixes' Franci Girard, Monrowe's Dani Evans and authors Jodie Patterson, Ajayi Jones and Tricia Clarke-Stone and Antoinette Clarke. Read their stories, give them a follow and support their work.

To Read

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons by Imani Perry
The Invisible Man/Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The First Next Time by James Baldwin
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

Bonus: Skip Amazon and buy the books at a Black-owned bookstore, like Elizabeth's in Akron, which was founded by Cargle and gives back to the Loveland Foundation.

To Watch

It’s a Wonderful Plight
Miss Juneteenth
High on the Hog
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Ava DuVernay's 13TH and Selma