Brandon Gonzalez - Since the development of racial capitalism—the use of African peoples as capital—our ancestors have always fought for freedom. Template
Martin Luther King Jr. - The goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Template
Mariah Cooley - June 19th reminds me that I am the force of power to change this world and to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors to work towards liberation. Template
Fatimata Cham - Liberation lies within us and will not be formed from the current institutional structures we have in place for it never has. Template
Richard Wright - We Black folk, our history, and our present being, are a mirror of all the manifold experiences of America. Template
Brittany Packnett Cunningham - Every Black person you meet is a miracle. Template
Richard Wright - What we want, what we represent, what we endure is what America is. If we black folk perish, America will perish. Template
Tatiana Glover - Juneteenth is another moment for me and my loved ones to build an archive of truth and experience of Black folks. Template
Shirley Chisholm - In the end, anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing—anti-humanism. Template
Bethel Kyeza - Juneteenth allows us to remember how far Black people have progressed since and it is a reminder of the strength we have within us. Template
Maya Angelou - Won’t it be wonderful when Black history, and Native American history, and Jewish history, and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history. Template
O’brian Rosario - Juneteenth was a promise that was broken. Reconstruction failed and this country has continued to wage war on the Black body. Template
O’brian Rosario - Juneteenth also embodies the resilience of Black people. Even in the face of a broken system, we choose to find joy in resistance and celebrate in community. Template
Tanesha Grant - Juneteenth symbolizes the hope that my children and grandchildren will be free. It’s Black joy and Black tenacity to survive. Template
Martin Luther King - We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Template
Harriet Tubman - God’s time is always near. He set the North star in the heavens; He gave me the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free. Template
Nelson Mandela - No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. Template
Nikki Giovanni - Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying. Template
Nelson Mandela - People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Template
Aretha Franklin - We all require and want respect, man or woman, Black or white. It's our basic human right. Template
Zoé Samudzi - We are not ready to fight because we love fighting. We are ready to fight because we are worth fighting for. Template
Ella Fitzgerald - Just don't give up what you're trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. Template
Tanesha Grant - As Black people, we are told we don’t deserve our own holidays rooted in our own history. Everything is whitewashed. Template
John Lewis - You must never, ever give out. We must keep the faith because we are one people. We are brothers and sisters. We all live in the same house—the American house. Template
Langston Hughes - I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me. Template
Frederick Douglass - Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave. Template
Malcom X - You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. Template
Desmond Tutu - My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. Template
Harriet Tubman - I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me. Template
John Quincy Adams - Where annual elections end where slavery begins. Template
Theodorea Regina Berry - The proclamation notes that freedom shall not be repressed. This is what I believe to be the primary significance of Juneteenth. Template
James Baldwin - If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go. Template
Kwame Nkruma - Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. They claim it as their own and none can keep it from them. Template
Martin Luther King Jr. - What matters is not how long you live…but how you live Template
Martin Luther King Jr. - Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. Template
Martin Luther King Jr. - Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Template
Martin Luther King Jr. - Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Template
Abu Bakr - It is a matter of shame that in the morning the birds should be awake earlier than you. Template
Toni Morrison - Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another. Template
Shirley Chisholm - In the end, anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism. Template
Martin Luther King Jr. - Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Template
Malcolm X - You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. Template
Harriet Tubman - I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. Template
Fannie Lou Hamer - Nobody’s until everybody’s Template
Pharrell Williams - The day we were free—everyone was free. Why not make it a paid holiday? We deserve that…We want a day that is inclusive to everyone. Template
Maya Angelou - You may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I’ll rise. Template
Colin Kaepernick - I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. Template
Frederick Douglass - I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. Template
Rosa Parks - I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free. Template
James Brown - Say it loud. I’m black and I’m proud! Template