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.
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. 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.
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 signing a petition to demand justice for Breonna Taylor or 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
https://act.moveon.org/go/140317?t=19&akid=266453%2E40999114%2EPStGBE
2. Houston Parks and Recreation Department, accessed June 15, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140318?t=21&akid=266453%2E40999114%2EPStGBE
3. "How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid," Wired, June 2, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140319?t=23&akid=266453%2E40999114%2EPStGBE
4. "Know Your Rights While Protesting Police Brutality" the American Civil Liberties Union, June 2, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140320?t=25&akid=266453%2E40999114%2EPStGBE
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