[1]Ayanna Pressley
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863,
but it wasn’t until June 19, 1865 that Union soldiers arrived in
Galveston, Texas and announced that the Black people who were enslaved
there were finally free.
Today, on June 19, we commemorate the official end to slavery as an
institution in the United States, while also acknowledging the continued
fight for true liberation for Black people in America.
It has been 155 years since June 19, 1865, yet our hearts break as Black
and brown bodies continue to be profiled, surveilled, policed, lynched,
choked, brutalized, and murdered at the hands of police officers.
There can be no justice for those whose lives have been stolen, so we
fight for accountability. But we know, too, that the yoke of institutional
oppression and systemic racism extends well beyond violence at the hands
of law enforcement.
So, if we care about Black lives and are serious about racial justice, we
must fight for an end to police brutality, but we must also care about the
lives of Black mothers, the barriers to Black homeownership, the
challenges facing Black student borrowers, the pushout of Black girls, and
the economic hardship visited on Black businesses.
Racial justice is inextricably tied to all forms of justice. It’s about
economic justice, housing justice, education justice, environmental
justice, and more.
We must be intentional about fighting for Black liberation, justice, and
reparations, even — and especially — when it’s inconvenient. We need more
than allies, we need accomplices who call out white supremacy when they
encounter it in their daily lives.
And we can start now. We can choose to support Black owned businesses
today and everyday to advance economic justice. [ [link removed] ]After supporting and
purchasing from a Black-owned business, highlight that business on social
media by tweeting with #BuyBlack.
Today, we recommit ourselves to fighting for justice, and to uplifting
Black excellence. Black innovation. Black history. Black futures. Black
joy. Black brilliance.
In solidarity,
Ayanna Pressley
Contribute to Ayanna's campaign: [link removed]
This email was sent to
[email protected]. Email is the most important way for us to reach you about opportunities to get involved. If you need to remove yourself from our email list, click here to unsubscribe:
You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Ayanna Pressley
