The first time I learned about Juneteenth was a year ago when social media greeted me with multiple posts remembering and reflecting on this important holiday. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day when the last of the black slaves in the United States were officially freed after the Emancipation Proclamation. While this event was a historic step towards racial equality in the United States, Juneteenth serves as a reminder that there is still much work to be done to ensure racial equality and social justice.

Social justice often conjures up thoughts of action, protest, and pushing forward. While these are important and necessary actions, one important action often gets left out: Rest. Read on for 3 reasons why rest is integral to the social justice movement.

1. Resting restores the energy needed to fuel social justice.

You may have noticed that you feel fresh in the morning, especially after a good night’s sleep: Your mind is clear, you are full of energy, and you feel ready to take on the day. Sleep activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which initiates the body functions responsible for “rest and digest”. When your body wakes up from a long night of resting and digesting, you feel restored and your energy reserves are replenished, which result in feeling fresh in the morning.

Social justice is most effective with prolonged and sustained effort. Just as a good night’s sleep provides the energy for us to move through our day, Rest supplies that fresh energy to fuel us and keep the fight for social justice moving forward.

2. You are mentally better equipped to make thoughtful decision when you are rested.

Decision fatigue is defined as “the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making.” Each decision we make uses brain power. The more decisions you make the more you deplete your brain power reserves. At the end of a long day of decision-making, you may not even have enough brain power to decide what to make for dinner. The best way to replenish your brain power is through rest. Rest resets your mental capacity so that you can be thoughtful about the decisions you make.

Social justice involves scrutinizing the systems around and engrained in us through exploration and inquiry then deciding the actions we can take towards a place of equality and justice. This complex work is not for the faint at heart. Doing this work requires intentional research, analysis, planning, and lots of decisions. Rest restores your brain power so that you can make thoughtful decision and deliberate actions to progress social justice.

3. Resting empowers community work and preserves the momentum of the movement.

A community needs to work in shifts to ensure continued progress towards social justice. To reiterate, social justice is most effective with sustained effort. While constant, sustained effort is impossible with only one person, it becomes possible when people work together. When a fellow community member or group are burned out and needs rest to replenish themselves, another community member or group take over and continue the work. Coordinated efforts that combine rest and action are essential to progress social justice forward.

Rest is just as important to social justice as action. It provides energy for change and fuels the momentum needed to progress forward. As you remember Juneteenth, reflect on how you can incorporate rest into your own sustainable work towards social justice.

Looking for ways to incorporate rest and change? Check out these resources:

How do you incorporate rest into your work towards social justice? Share you tips and resources in the comments below.

3 Reasons Why Rest is Important for Social Justice