Juneteenth - from Galveston in 1865 to around the country

On June 19, 1865, federal troops reached Galveston, Texas, and informed the enslaved people there that they were free. That was two months after the Confederacy surrendered, and two and a half years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared that "all people held as slaves" in states that were "in rebellion against the United States" were free as of January 1, 1863. Since June 19, some African Americans have celebrated June 19 as Juneteenth. So You Want to Learn About Juneteenth?, N.Y. Times (June 18, 2020).

Order for the District of Texas by Major General Granger, June 19, 1865
(as printed in the Dallas Herald, July 1, 1865, at 2:

"The people are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor. The Freedmen are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. By order of Major General GRANGER. (Signed) F. W. Emery, Maj & A. A. G.

Washington—like 44 other states and the District of Columbia—recognizes Juneteenth as a holiday (but not the sort of holiday where government shuts down for a day). This year, responding to heightened awareness of racial injustice, some companies are declaring the day a company holiday (see N.Y. Times story above). And Biglaw is joining in. More Firms Opt To Observe Juneteenth As A Holiday, Law360 (June 17, 2020). (UW Law users: log in to Law360 with your Lexis ID.)

Video Lessons from LinkedIn - Lots of Skills! Something for Everyone!

The UW’s Career & Internship Center has subscribed to LinkedIn Learning, a vast collection of training videos. It's available to the whole UW community—students, staff, and faculty.

You select areas of interest (e.g., project management or Excel). If you tie LinkedIn Learning to your LinkedIn profile, it might also pick up interests from there; for instance, the algorithm noted that I had writing on my LinkedIn Profile and so suggested some training videos for me.

Screen snip from Video Interview Tips lesson

You can set goals—15, 30, 60, or 120 minutes of training per week.  Of course, if you have the time and you're getting something out of the lessons, you can dig in for longer.

You can create “collections” that you can share. For instance, I created a Writing & Editing collection. (The videos in the collection are just a taste of what's available!)

You set your own learning priorities. Do you think your note-taking and writing would be easier if you had better Word skills? Are you impressed when your classmates make colorful charts in Excel? Would you like to improve your public speaking? There are lessons for all of these.

Predefined “Learning Paths” offer videos on a theme. For example, Finding a Job during Challenging Economic Times has 13 lessons with over 11 hours of content. If you're still a student, you might skip Recovering from a Layoff and move on to How to Manage Feeling Overwhelmed.

You can search for a topic, such as time management (ooh! Time Management: Working from Home looks good!). You can also browse general categories and drill down till you find something that grabs you.

Summer might be a good time to build some of those professional skills that you don't necessarily get in formal classes. And LinkedIn Learning is a great tool to help you do it.