John,

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom. It’s a celebration of independence. It’s a celebration of emancipation. It commemorates the day that enslaved people were declared free in Texas in 1865 – two years after President Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation.

Our newest federal holiday is a reminder of how far we’ve come as a nation and how far we still have to go to achieve a more perfect union.

One of the great Black American thinkers who has deeply shaped my values is Frederick Douglass, a former enslaved person who became a prominent leader in the fight for equality. His 1869 speech, “Composite Nation,” lays out a bold vision of a pluralistic America. His words are just as poignant, just as powerful, today as they were nearly 160 years ago:

“There are such things in the world as human rights. They rest upon no conventional foundation, but are external, universal, and indestructible. Among these, is the right of locomotion; the right of migration; the right which belongs to no particular race, but belongs alike to all and to all alike.”

We’ve made phenomenal strides through centuries of struggle, yet there is still so much more we must do. But we can do it. I believe in Frederick Douglass's vision of a composite nation, where people from every background come together to write the American story.

I believe that in our lifetime we can do what no society in human history has ever done—become a cohesive, multiracial, multiethnic democracy. If we stand up for the dignity of every person, if we bring opportunity and prosperity to communities left out, if we provide every American with healthcare, a good education, and well-paying jobs, we can truly build an America that, as Fredrick Douglass said, “belongs alike to all and to all alike.”

That’s what I’m celebrating today.

In solidarity,