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John,

Fourth of July is going to feel different this year. I will miss the parades and the barbecues and the block parties. I will miss celebrating in the streets together instead of at a distance.

But since we cannot be together today, I hope you will join me in taking a moment to reflect. I want to reflect on the promise of this country, and the bedrock principles of liberty and equality that it was founded on.

I want to reflect on how far we have come since 1776, when liberty and equality only applied to white men with property. This progress was not natural or inevitable. It was won through the blood, sweat, and tears of men and women like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Medgar Evers, César Chávez, Shirley Chisholm, Harold Washington, and countless others.

History is not over, and the past is not behind us. The insidious legacy of institutionalized racism and slavery is alive and well. The coronavirus pandemic lays bare the festering and growing economic inequality in this country, and its deadly consequences.

This Fourth of July, I challenge you to take up the mantle of the activists, organizers, and trailblazers who fought and died to build a better country for all Americans. We will not stop marching, and we will not stop organizing until we complete their project and realize the unfulfilled promise of liberty, justice, and equality for all.

Venceremos.

Chuy García

Volunteer