Fellow Young Democrats:
On this day, 149 years ago, America’s disgraceful practice of allowing one human being to own another was brought to an end. As General Order #3 was read in Galveston Texas, the reach of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation stretched to all corners of the United States.
Upon that General Order, the United States started a new chapter which many more battles were waged in the name of equality. As we celebrate how far we have come and the people who made it possible, let us acknowledge that there is far more work to be done.
We must internalize the lessons of Dr. King, Maya Angelou, Ralph Ellison, and other visionaries of the Pre and Post-Civil Rights Movement, applying them to our everyday lives and using them to spur us into action. As leaders in the black community and dedicated allies, we must continue to strive to achieve true equality.
In the eternal words of the late Maya Angelou, “Fighting for one’s freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or a good Muslim or good Zen Buddhist. You work all day long and achieve some kind of level of success by nightfall, go to sleep and wake up the next morning with the job still to be done. So you start all over again.”
Today marks a new day, a day to start over and achieve another level of success. The struggle towards freedom and equality can only be met with the successes of the current generation that inspires the next to continue the fight.
Warm Regards and Happy Juneteenth,
Courtney Driver
Chair, CYD Black Caucus
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