On this Juneteenth, what does freedom mean to you?

With growing political resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, cities and companies nationwide have scaled back or canceled Juneteenth support. Organizers of Juneteenth Atlanta Fest say the event nearly didn’t happen this year. Military and corporate sponsors that once supported the festival financially backed out.

A wave of historical reckoning — renaming schools and military bases, revisiting classroom curricula and canceling university programs — has since collided with cuts to DEI funding at the state and federal level. Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” further signaled a shift. This year, Juneteenth feels different. In some places, more subdued.

Independence Day and Juneteenth reflect different chapters of America’s story — different timelines of freedom. And depending on who you ask, there are many versions of what freedom or independence really means. For some, the Fourth of July has never felt like a holiday to celebrate. The same has been said for Juneteenth.