For Google's head of diversity and inclusion, marking Juneteenth is more difficult this year following recent mass shootings

• June 19, or Juneteenth, commemorates the effective end of slavery in the US.
• Google exec Melonie Parker shared what the day means to her, and why it's difficult this year.

On Sunday, Google's head of diversity and inclusion, Melonie Parker, will do something she normally doesn't: pause. For Juneteenth — the day that marks the effective end of slavery in the US in 1865 — she'll be reading the Bible, poring over works by Black authors, and reflecting on the notion of liberation.

It's all part of her Juneteenth ritual. But this year, in particular, Parker is having difficulty wrestling with the idea of freedom — the unshackling from injustice — given recent acts of violence in the US.

Last month's shooting in Buffalo, New York, where a gunman killed 10 Black Americans in a grocery store, the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead and more than a dozen wounded, and another deadly shooting in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are weighing on Parker.

"As Americans, we are deeply connected by these incredibly tragic and horrific events in Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa — some of which have directly impacted the Google community," she said. "In a sense, we have all been wounded, impacted and trauma-bonded by these mass shootings."

While Parker said there's been much progress since George Floyd's murder in May 2020 fueled a movement for racial justice, the country needs to do more to protect its people, especially Black Americans.

Violent incidents by white supremacist groups are rising in America. The Department of Homeland Security has said white supremacist extremists "remain the most persistent and lethal threat" to the nation. And 2021 was the deadliest year on record for transgender people, with Black trans people especially at risk. For Parker, liberation cannot exist without security.

"One of the basic tenets we value within our right to liberty is safety," she told Insider. "Black Americans are grounded in experiences where their liberties are threatened by a lack of safety."

Creating safe spaces

In addition to not tolerating hate or prejudice, business leaders need to do more to provide spaces for their employees to exist, to grieve, and to express their thoughts, Parker said in a previous interview with Insider.

Managers can hold sessions in solidarity with communities affected by violence and executives should offer mental-health support to employees, Parker said. Colleagues also have a role to play; people from one community need to show up for other communities, she said.

"The work of diversity, equity, and inclusion has never been more important," she said, adding that creating a sense of community for Google employees during difficult times involves a lot of conversation. "We talk about it. We hold sessions in solidarity where we partner with an external group. And we bring in counselors," Parker said. "And we hold sessions for the impacted community."

The suggestions Parker shared center around a popular theme in modern diversity, equity, and inclusion literature: psychological safety. It's a term used by mental-health experts to describe a space where people feel they can be authentic, supported, and validated.

It's an idea some executives are embracing. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet, has called it out as a company value. Marcus Lofthouse, the chief product officer at the dating service OkCupid, said that creating psychological safety has been key to the company's innovation. And Rosanna Durruthy, the head of diversity and inclusion at LinkedIn, extolled the importance of psychological safety in a previous interview with Insider.

"Great companies are going to establish clear anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies. They're going to create safe spaces for their employees and they're going to enable brave conversations to take place because these aren't one-sided conversations," Durruthy said.

"Ultimately, they're going to commit to inclusive hiring practices and goals, which means they're willing to stand up and say, 'I see you, and I want you in my environment, and I want you to bring your perspective to the work that we're doing,'" Durruthy added.

Parker has been leading Google's DEI strategy to increase the number of Black employees and leaders at the company.

"As we work our way forward, bringing people together, respectfully, we can continue to develop our collective definition of freedom — based on the need for civil and social justice and equality for all," Parker said.