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Celebrating Juneteenth: Lift Every Voice!

Thursday, June 19th, 2025

“Freedom is the state or fact of being free from servitude, constraint, inhibition, etc.; liberty.”
—Oxford English Dictionary

Salutations to all intrepid Pathfinders and Starfinders!

The Paizo offices are closed today, June 19th, to pay respects to a crucial day in African American history. Many of you may have associated America’s criminalization of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation, and this would be partly true. The painful and more devastating truth is that after January 1st, 1863, for 901 more days, thousands of slaves remained in bondage, most completely unaware that these changes were happening mere miles away from them. News regarding the end of the Civil War was intentionally blocked from entering Confederate states, and the slaves in those states were not informed of their freedom until Major Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Texas on June 19th, 1865. That day, colloquially known as Juneteenth, marked the true end to slavery in America and the beginning of a new life for every African and African American on this soil. Although we and other marginalized groups like ours still show resilience daily in our uphill battle for civil rights, we celebrate Juneteenth as one step among many towards true equal rights and equal opportunity.

Juneteenth is more than just an automated notification on your calendar. It’s more than just a portmanteau created and maintained in a culture of resistance. Juneteenth means freedom.

A great way to show solidarity and to support Juneteenth and our community is by donating time, money, or other resources to a black-focused organization. Here are the ones we recommend:

To learn more about Juneteenth and why we celebrate it, check out Juneteenth.com.

As a black employee here at Paizo, I’m honored to have the opportunity to educate our space about this significant moment in history that often goes unnoticed.

Thank you and Happy Gaming!

Maya Coleman (xe/xem/they/them)
Community and Social Media Specialist

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

This is a nice, concise explanation! While I'm a Black American, my family's not from here (we're Caribbean, I'm first-gen). Regardless, the history of Black liberation has been at the forefront of my mind since I was a child, as well as what Black narratives might look like. I'm only here on the forums today because a friend of mine convinced me to read The Mwangi Expanse, which remains one of my favorite books produced by Paizo. I'm glad that Paizo provides a space to show off not just the hard work of marginalized creatives but promotion for organizations who desperately need support and recognition of this vital holiday.
Grand Archive
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Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Thanks for all of this!
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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Thank you for including a call to action and list of helpful organizations.
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Why the distinction between people who are black and people who aren't black in calling the NAACP by its abbreviation?
tumblingdice wrote:
Why the distinction between people who are black and people who aren't black in calling the NAACP by its abbreviation?

NAACP, or The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Exercise caution using the term "colored people".
django77 wrote:
tumblingdice wrote:
Why the distinction between people who are black and people who aren't black in calling the NAACP by its abbreviation?

NAACP, or The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Exercise caution using the term "colored people".

Got it, thanks!

Liberty's Edge
2 people marked this as a favorite.
tumblingdice wrote:
Why the distinction between people who are black and people who aren't black in calling the NAACP by its abbreviation?

fwiw, growing up (I am black American) I've only heard everyone use the abbreviation and the only time i've encountered it said in full is academic settings when defining for people what the abbreviation stand for. As django also pointing out, "colored people" is a very dated term. At best, it would be considered very odd, awkward, and old fashioned term, and at worst - insulting- and this varies across countries.

I don't really believe anyone, in American context, uses it colloquially as this is a term that fell out of use by (I think) the 70's.

But back to my main point, colloquially, I think almost everyone just says N-double A-C-P. (literally double A - not A-A)
---

@Maya I appreciate the write-up and the title made my heart lift. I have found memories of singing this song in elementary school.
Paizo Employee Community & Social Media Specialist
5 people marked this as a favorite.
tumblingdice wrote:
Why the distinction between people who are black and people who aren't black in calling the NAACP by its abbreviation?

Yes, this was made because the phrase "colored people" is a slur used against African Americans like me. It's also a slur used against Aboriginal people in Australia and other people of color across the world, but in this use, it was reclaimed by African Americans to make the NAACP. Just want to make sure our community isn't saying slurs!

Paizo Employee Community & Social Media Specialist
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Viviolay wrote:

fwiw, growing up (I am black American) I've only heard everyone use the abbreviation and the only time i've encountered it said in full is academic settings when defining for people what the abbreviation stand for. As django also pointing out, "colored people" is a very dated term. At best, it would be considered very odd, awkward, and old fashioned term, and at worst - insulting- and this varies across countries.

I don't really believe anyone, in American context, uses it colloquially as this is a term that fell out of use by (I think) the 70's.

But back to my main point, colloquially, I think almost everyone just says N-double A-C-P. (literally double A - not A-A)
---

@Maya I appreciate the write-up and the title made my heart lift. I have found memories of singing this song in elementary school.

Interestingly enough, it was used by Matt Damon very colloquially in Ocean's 11, and I remember being like "HELLO?!?!?" because what do you mean we're using that in 2001 and this isn't a period movie!?

In any case, thanks for enjoying this! Thanks to EVERYONE for enjoying this and taking the time to read it! We'll get the typo fixed on Monday when the team is back!
Maya Coleman wrote:
tumblingdice wrote:
Why the distinction between people who are black and people who aren't black in calling the NAACP by its abbreviation?
Yes, this was made because the phrase "colored people" is a slur used against African Americans like me. It's also a slur used against Aboriginal people in Australia and other people of color across the world, but in this use, it was reclaimed by African Americans to make the NAACP. Just want to make sure our community isn't saying slurs!

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Initially, I thought you meant that only non-black people should use the term NAACP, not that non-black people should use only the term NAACP. Now I understand.

Paizo Employee Community & Social Media Specialist
tumblingdice wrote:
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Initially, I thought you meant that only non-black people should use the term NAACP, not that non-black people should use only the term NAACP. Now I understand.

You're very welcome! I'm always happy to help, understand, and inform! Have a good weekend! ^_^

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