Hello,

On June 19, 1865, enslaved people gathered around the steps of Reedy Chapel in Galveston, Texas to learn that they were finally free. Since then, communities across the country have gathered on June 19 to honor Black Americans’ fight for freedom and equality, which continues to this day.

Yet in states across the country, the right to fully participate in our democracy is under threat. Republicans in states like Georgia and Texas are advancing legislation that disproportionately curtails voting rights for Black Americans. This is a return to a shameful era in our nation’s history -- the era of literacy tests, poll taxes and voter purges -- and it is unacceptable.

The fact is, freedom isn’t freedom without the right to vote. So it is our task to make voting as accessible as possible and to protect it with everything we have. We have to do everything we can to make sure Black Americans can fully exercise the right that generations have fought so hard for.

On this Juneteenth let’s remember that freedom -- that ideal promised to those gathered in Galveston, all those years ago -- remains an ideal in progress. Let’s recommit to that ideal by giving our all to the fight for voting rights.

Thank you,

Amy