Juneteenth: A Bold Conversation About Family, History, and Hope

Juneteenth: A Bold Conversation About Family, History, and Hope

We all have a legacy of a history that is different. Life histories make us look at the world a little bit differently. We are a product of our past, and appreciating what has happened in our past is a part of ensuring that our present-day works better. - Ted Paris, TD Bank's Head of Data & Analytics

Ted's own family includes members who have been nationally recognized for their work in the Civil Rights era and others who are not as well-known, but all had the boldness to make better lives for their families and communities.

It's this boldness and courage shared in Ted's family and by millions of other Black families that he will honor this Juneteenth, a federal holiday on June 19 commemorating the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19, 1865, that freed all Blacks from enslavement in the United States.

Ted's relatives include his cousin, affectionately called Aunt Connie within the family. She was known to the outside world as Constance Baker Motley. She was the first Black woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, and the first to serve as a federal judge.

When Ted was a child, he said his parents made the bold decision as the first Black family to move into the Beverly neighborhood in Chicago's South Side - during the early 1970s when racial tensions were incredibly high. It took great courage, yet his parents shared the sentiment of the title of President Barack Obama's autobiography, The Audacity of Hope, in believing this move would provide better opportunities.

"There were people who welcomed us, and those who did not," Ted said. "While I witnessed the challenges and struggles that I don't think should have had to exist having grown up in the communities that I did, it helped me reconcile that this isn't a permanent condition. We can all come together."