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John, Today is Juneteenth – a national holiday that is not just a celebration but also a beautiful reckoning and acknowledgement of this country's imperfection. It is an imperfection that my family is well acquainted with. My great-grandfather fled South Carolina because of the Klu Klux Klan – an organization founded as a response to the end of slavery. He moved his family to Jamaica with the pledge to never return. Most of them never did. But his son, my grandfather, came back to America. He went to an HBCU, brought his family over. He always said, "I was born here. And no one has the right to take that away from me."
This was a man who had a deep Jamaican accent his entire life and was one of the proudest Americans I've ever met. Because he knew his story was as much a part of the American story as anybody else. I tell his story because we are seeing an uprising in this country of those who want to ban our history and silence our voices. They don't want folks to know that the racist organization that tried to permanently chase my family from this country was founded in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation. But our history is our strength. Because when we know where we've been and what we've overcome, we know the path to a more perfect union. My family's story laid the path for my governorship. It is on my great-grandfather and grandfather's shoulders that I stand. Think about what it says about our country that the great-grandson of a man who was chased out by the Klan is now the governor of a state that was home to one of the largest slave ports in North America. This is the promise of Juneteenth. And it's one I'm honored to fight for alongside you every single day. Elevate, Wes P.S. Today is a celebration and an acknowledgement. It is also a reminder that we have more work to do – if you are in that work with me, please let me know by showing your support with a donation.
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