June 19, 2020 Celebrating Juneteenth Dear Friends of Friends: This has been a difficult Spring for all of us, but I’d like to step out of the struggle briefly for a moment of gratitude.Happy Juneteenth! Let’s all be thankful that this holiday, celebrating the end of slavery in America, is finally being recognized outside the Black community. Progress for Black Americans came slowly then and the pace of change in our country has remained glacial ever since. But the events of the past year have heightened the consciousness of many Americans and I’m hopeful that we’ll look back on this period as another time of rapid progress, similar to the Civil Rights era of the Sixties. The struggle to dismantle systemic racism will be long and challenging, but I’m heartened by the momentum I see already. As someone old enough to remember the 60’s, it looks to me like the wheels of change are starting to turn. Michael Rugen SF Co-Founder & Executive Director Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area