




	Hi Friend, This Saturday is Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day and Emancipation Day. It honors the end of slavery in the United States, which, as Vann R. Newkirk II wrote in The Atlantic, "celebrates liberty in America as it actually is: delayed." Specifically, the holiday marks the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free — despite the fact the Emancipation Proclamation had actually been issued two-and-a-half years earlier, on January 1, 1863. Juneteenth is not just a celebration of the emancipation of those individuals in Texas, but a reminder to all of us that none are free until all are free — and that for Black people in this country, freedom does not come fast enough nor advance in a straight line. Just yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation to establish Juneteenth as a legal national holiday. Please join us tomorrow, Thursday June 17 at 11 AM Eastern, on Instagram, to learn more about the history of Juneteenth and the campaign to provide reparations to African Americans for their ancestors' enslavement and for the systemic racism they continue to face, including environmental injustice. You won't want to miss the conversation between LCV's Chief Officer for Racial Justice and Equity Leslie Hinkson, LCV's Conservation Program Director Alex Taurel, and Human Rights Watch's Dreisen Heath, a leading advocate for reparations. This year, we've seen more elected leaders acknowledge the legacy of the historical crimes of white supremacy. Last month, President Biden traveled to Oklahoma to commemorate the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — the first president to do so. In Congress, H.R. 40 — a bill proposed by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, which would create a commission to study slavery, its lingering effects, and the discrimination African Americans have faced in its wake — has passed committee and is poised for a full House floor vote soon. At the same time, we've seen new attacks on democracy and voting rights profoundly rooted in white supremacy — a backlash aimed at high rates of participation by Black voters in 2020 and which reflects the long history of disenfranchisement of Black people in this country. Fueled by false allegations of fraud in the vote-by-mail process, legislatures in 48 states have introduced almost 400 bills to restrict voting . All of us at LCV and our members have a role to play in advancing freedom and honoring the history and lessons of Juneteenth. We must also push Congress to pass laws to protect voting rights and strengthen our democracy, including: The Washington, DC Admission Act (H.R. 51) to grant DC statehood. The unrepresented residents of DC — nearly half of whom are Black people — deserve to have their voices heard in the federal legislative process. By establishing Washington D.C. as a state, while still preserving a constitutionally required Federal District, this legislation finally grants constitutionally mandated representation to people in this historically Black city. The For the People Act (S. 1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4). These sweeping democracy reform packages would expand the freedom to vote, provide federal protection against discriminatory state and local voting laws, end partisan and racial gerrymandering, get polluter money out of politics, and restore transparency and accountability in our government. It would also return power to the overwhelming majority of people in this country who want to see meaningful action on climate change, clean energy, and environmental justice. Onward, Gene Karpinski President League of Conservation Voters P.S. I hope you can join us on Thursday June 17 at 11 AM ET for an Instagram Live with LCV's Chief Officer for Racial Justice and Equity Leslie Hinkson, LCV's Conservation Program Director Alex Taurel, and Human Rights Watch's Dreisen Heath. Follow @lcvoters on Instagram and join live here.