I stand today as WE that remain and the thousands of our ancestors amidst our brothers and sisters to celebrate Juneteenth, a 155- year old holiday of official freedom because, July 4 1776, we were not all free. On June 19, 1865, the remaining 200,000 slaves held in the confederate state of Texas were freed in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive Order of the United States, all slaves are now free.”
We celebrate…
· The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Abolish Slavery
· The Civil Rights Act of 1866 that granted citizenship and the same rights enjoyed by white citizens to all male persons in the U.S. without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude.”
· The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: to extend liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to former slaves
· The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Voting Rights granting African American men the right to vote. While simultaneously implementing the first Jim Crow segregation law
· The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “guarantees all American women the right to vote.”
· Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibiting sex-based pay differentials on jobs
· Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities and made employment discrimination illegal
· Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawing the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War
· Civil Rights Act of 1991 adding provisions to Title VII protections, including right to jury trial
These were many of the accomplishments that resulted from the blood, sweat and lives lost at the doors of this nation.
However, I ask you sisters and brothers. What is freedom?
· the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
· absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government.
· the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
While we seemingly gained many wins, the New Jim Crow era was born.
· Millions of African American locked behind bars denied the rights we supposedly won
· Majority of black men in major urban areas are still under correctional control
· Warehoused in prisons denied basic civil and human rights
· Perpetuating
discrimination in employment,
discrimination in housing,
discrimination in access to education and public benefits
labeled felon for minor drug crime
Slavery was redesigned through the War on Drugs, Three Strike Laws, and Mandatory Sentencing
These sufferings came at the expense of us all and the invisible punishment that often goes unnoticed rooted in the prison industrial complex and profit seeking slave masters of this era where the killing of black people has become the norm.
We cannot stop here, we must continue to place the blood of lives lost on the hands of our nation until freedoms truly rings. I encourage you today as we celebrate to continue crying loud and sparing not the systems of racial injustice that exist in this world. Exercise your right to vote and be counted.
Until freedom truly rings we shall place the blood of the oppressed on the doors of our nation.
Until all of us are free, none of us are free. We demand reparation!
I give all the Glory to God who has paved the way this far and will continue to elevate the voices of @God . All things are possible through Christ Jesus!