Friend,

This Friday is Juneteenth, a day that commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans in our country received the news that they were free. While Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation brought freedom to slaves in 1863, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, that the last slaves were freed.

Union General Gordon Granger and his troops rode to Galveston, Texas, and let the slaves there know that they were free and that slavery had ended. Months later, it was officially abolished when the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865.

Yet, here we are. It’s been almost 155 years since slavery was abolished — and over 230 years since the Three-Fifths Compromise — but African-Americans are still trying to gain freedom from oppression. Fighting for justice. Fighting to not be killed — or threatened with death by cop — for engaging in normal, everyday activities like walking, birdwatching, relaxing at home, or even breathing.

In light of this, NextGen America is holding a Juneteenth Week of Action. Nationally and throughout our state organizations, we will be hosting events, calling for our nation’s leadership to take action, and more.

Juneteenth is a celebration of change for the betterment of African-Americans’ lives — a celebration of the time that African-Americans realized they were truly free. And during this Juneteenth Week of Action, NextGen is celebrating the change that will come from the #youthvote voting en masse to undo the damage of prior generations and protect the civil rights of all. Against the backdrop of the demonstrations that occurred across the nation over the last couple of weeks, we are reminded that these demonstrations are not the problem; they are a symptom that reflects the frustration of people who are tired of being treated as though their lives simply don’t matter.

NextGen fights for progress and for freedom. And we do this by advocating for true equality and justice while enabling the #youthvote to seize control of the future, undo the injustices that past generations have created, and move our country forward.