Content Warning: This email and the video below contain graphic references to lynching and racial violence.
Over the weekend, we honored Juneteenth — a celebration of how far we’ve come and a reminder of the fight for freedom and independence.
While there is much to celebrate, there can be no true celebration of Juneteenth without acknowledging that the deep devastation of slavery and structural racism has never fully met justice. It is time that we all come together and reconcile this painful truth.
That’s why earlier this month, I posted a video about the family members I’ve lost to lynching. I spoke about the hate and division holding us back as a country, and why replacing Rand Paul is so critical in our fight for healing, humanity, and a brighter future.
Some people told me this video would be controversial. Too jarring.
This video was one of the hardest things I have done, but after a lot of prayer and reflection, I knew this video was an important message in confronting the trauma of our history.
You see, I’ve had ancestors who were enslaved in Kentucky. Family members who fought for desegregation in Kentucky. Three of my uncles were lynched in Kentucky. And I know I’m not alone: there are millions of families in Kentucky and throughout the South who share this story.
So when Rand Paul single-handedly voted to block the Emmett Till Anti- Lynching Act two years ago — legislation that would finally make lynching a federal hate crime — I took that personally. This is also the man who said he would have voted against the Civil Rights Act – the man that compared expanded health care to slavery.
I know this video will be challenging to watch. I understand the sensitivity of this issue, and realize the visual will expose some wounds that have not healed up in our society.
My hope is that by watching this video, folks will understand just how important this campaign is in our broader mission to realize true freedom, peace, justice, and democracy.
I hope it will challenge all of us to mobilize and come together in the work to uproot hate, which includes defeating Rand Paul this year.
You can click here to watch the video:
With love,
Charles
P.S. Thank you for all of your support. You’ve already helped us make history by making me the first Black Kentuckian to receive the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Together, I know we can continue moving mountains.
If you’re finished watching the video and want to show your support for our movement, will you chip in $5 or anything you can to our grassroots funded campaign? It’s going to take all of us working together to end Rand’s corporate-funded, failed campaign and usher in a new era of people-first leadership to Kentucky.
