Friends,

Today our office is closed in recognition of Juneteenth. Our closure--and widespread closures for the day--are a first in the holiday's 154-year history and a welcome acknowledgment of an important American event.

As the country grapples with its history of systemic racism and police brutality, we believe that it is important for any organization closing--or anyone taking the day off--to understand the origins of Juneteenth and why the day is so critical to our current conversations around justice and racial equity.

Many Americans believe President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation marked the end of slavery in America. Although a milestone in the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free the nearly 4 million enslaved people living in the country at the time. For over 200,000 enslaved Americans, the news of freedom did not arrive until June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers entered Galveston, Texas to bring the news of liberation--two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Since that fateful day, Black Americans, first in Texas and then in other parts of the country, have taken time to celebrate the eventual arrival of freedom for those enslaved, creating the Juneteenth holiday.

The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and far too many others, represent the racial injustice that has shaped our nation and cut short the lives of too many Black Americans.

Recent protests around the killing of Black Americans show that despite all our progress, many are still waiting for justice to arrive. Democratic Attorneys General are working to ensure a criminal justice system that serves our communities, builds trust that has been lost, and protects the most vulnerable in our society. To be successful, we will all need to work together.

So today let us pause and reflect on how we can use this moment--a moment that commemorates the liberation of those denied freedom for centuries--to understand the value behind the legal maxim of "justice delayed is justice denied."

For those looking to learn more, we encourage you to check out the following events featuring two of our Democratic Attorneys General:

Friday, June 19th at 12:00pm ET: Take 30: A Juneteenth Conversation about the Meaning of Freedom with District of Columbia AG Karl Racine. Click here to RSVP here.

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Friday, June 19th 1:00 PM ET: National Bar Association's Road to Reform, Equity, and Freedom: Juneteenth Townhall Discussion with Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. Click here to RSVP.
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Team DAGA

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