Dear MoveOn member,
It’s been a hard year. It’s been almost impossible to watch or read the
news over the past four months and not see Black suffering and trauma.
From the disproportionate infection and death rates from COVID-19 to Black
essential workers fighting for a fair wage and protections all the way to
Black people murdered by the police and vigilantes.
It can be very easy to fall into despair. But today I’m asking you to not
lose hope. Hundreds of thousands of people, from small towns to big
cities, are taking to the streets and loudly proclaiming that
#BlackLivesMatter and continuing the momentum for change. We're holding
elected officials accountable and demanding they defund the police and use
the reinvestments into their communities for things like housing
assistance, public health, and education.
[ [link removed] ]Can you take part in actions to proclaim Black Lives Matter on
Juneteenth (Friday, June 19) and through the weekend as part of national
days of action anchored by the Movement for Black Lives? There are
hundreds of events across the country and online. Click here to find one
near you.
This Friday, June 19, marks the 135th anniversary of Juneteenth, otherwise
known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865
when Major General Gordon Granger, along with 2,000 Union troops, rode
into Galveston Bay, Texas, and told the enslaved Black people that they
were free.^1 You read that date correctly. Even though these enslaved
people were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and
the Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1965, 250,000 Black people were
still kept in bondage in Texas until June 19, 1865.
Juneteenth has significant historical meaning for Black people in the
U.S.—and Black people in Texas and the larger Gulf Coast region, in
particular. In Houston’s Third Ward, near downtown, there’s Emancipation
Park, which was founded by formerly enslaved Black people.^2 Since the
beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, the knowledge of this day,
and its popularity, have grown.
Now more than ever, it’s critical that we honor and celebrate Black
resistance and Black freedom. It’s up to us to carry on in the traditions
of Harriet Tubman, Anna Julia Cooper, Frederick Douglass, and the many
other Black freedom fighters whose names have been lost to history.
[ [link removed] ]That’s why we’re joining with the Movement for Black Lives in their SIX
NINETEEN mobilization this weekend, to celebrate Juneteenth. We’re
expecting to see millions of people in the streets and at home joining in
the call to #DefendBlackLives and call for an end to the systems that seek
to penalize and brutalize Black people.
[ [link removed] ]Will you join us this weekend to #DefendBlackLives?
If you are able to take to the streets safely, there is likely an event
near you. If you participate, please wear a mask, bring sanitizer, and
practice social distancing to the extent possible and know that you are
exercising your constitutional right to protest.^3,^4 If you are unable to
go into the streets, there are virtual rallies you can join from home as
well, and you can continue to show your support by [ [link removed] ]signing a petition
to demand justice for Breonna Taylor or [ [link removed] ]donating to the Movement for
Black Lives and the National Bail Out Fund.
“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward
justice.” –Martin Luther King Jr.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mary, Allison, Emma, Oscar, and the rest of the team.
By choosing to attend this event, you are committing to participate
nonviolently and in accordance with the law, to work to de-escalate
confrontations with others, and to behave lawfully to ensure the safety of
event participants. You also acknowledge that you are solely responsible
for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or
occurring during this event and that you release all event sponsors and
organizers (and their officers, directors, employees, and agents) from any
liability for that injury or damage.
Sources:
1. "The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth," National Museum of African
American History and Culture, accessed June 15, 2020
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
2. Houston Parks and Recreation Department, accessed June 15, 2020
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
3. "How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid,"
Wired, June 2, 2020
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
4. "Know Your Rights While Protesting Police Brutality" the American Civil
Liberties Union, June 2, 2020
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every
moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the
damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the
nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that
we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now
more than ever. Will you stand with us?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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