Carmen Tapio, Founder, Nebraska Black Women United; CEO, North End Teleservices, LLC, Releases Statement on Juneteenth

OMAHA, Neb. June 16, 2022 – Carmen Tapio, founder, Nebraska Black Women United and CEO and founder, North End Teleservices, LLC (Nebraska’s largest Black-owned business), issued the following statement today honoring Juneteenth:

“One of the most painful legacies in the United States is that of slavery. In 1790 alone, there were more than 700,000 slaves in the U.S. – representing one-in-six of all people in what was a very new America. The number of enslaved humans only grew with time. By 1860, the Census reports there were greater than four million slaves in the South. Then came the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and the fight for freedom for all people. Juneteenth celebrates a critical time in history, when more than 250,000 Americans in Texas, still enslaved two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, began to learn of their freedom. Juneteenth is Freedom Day. It is when we celebrate progress – progress that includes Juneteenth being named a federal holiday just last year. It is when we honor our ancestors, and memorialize those who came before us. It is when we look back to revisit the past, and we look forward with hope. It is when we know we must not just better as a human race. We must do our very best as one humanity.”