State leaders pledge support for Black Americans during Juneteenth observance
Photo I Ella Adams / SHNS
Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson performs at a State House Juneteenth celebration on Wednesday.
Lawmakers reflected on the significance of Juneteenth Wednesday, promising that Massachusetts will fight for and support Black Americans facing headwinds from new federal challenges.
"We have come a long way, and it's our turn at this point to have the baton in our hand. And if we don't, and we don't use the power we have today, after all the sacrifices that were made in the past, shame on us," Russell Holmes, the longest-serving member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, told a crowd from the steps of State House on Wednesday.
Holmes, who reflected on the growth of the caucus — which he said began with around 10 members and has grown to 26 — was flanked by more than 30 lawmakers.
Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson, Greater Framingham Community Church's Reverend Dr. J. Anthony Lloyd, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and singer Vanessa Ford, who led the Black national anthem, also joined the event.
"This year is not like every other year. When we celebrate this holiday, we must recognize what is happening around us," said Tomás O’Brien, executive director of the caucus.
The theme of the event was "resilience," a way to reflect the "ongoing struggle for justice, equity, and recognition of the contributions of Black Americans," according to the caucus.
"It is hard to believe that we are still fighting for the same basic human rights and protections for Black and Brown Americans, and yet, I believe that this caucus is prepared and proud to lead in the fight to continue fighting for these protections and equal rights," O'Brien continued.
Juneteenth, which will be celebrated Thursday, commemorates more than 250,000 slaves in Texas learning of their freedom on June 19, 1865. The date came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, the same year it was celebrated as a state holiday for the first time in Massachusetts. Former Gov. Charlie Baker signed the holiday into law in July 2020.
Sen. Liz Miranda spoke about the legacy of Black leaders and progress in Boston, highlighting the experiences of Quock Walker and Elizabeth Freeman — both individuals Miranda said were a driving force behind the end of slavery in Massachusetts.
A Supreme Judicial Court decision that found Walker was a free man served as a precedent that ended slavery in Massachusetts, Miranda said. The first African American woman to successfully file a lawsuit for freedom, Freeman was spoken about several times on Wednesday, as lawmakers said her case marked the beginning of a group of freedom suits that eventually led the state's highest court to outlaw slavery in Massachusetts.
"The legal and political progress we have made is significant, but it isn't the end of the fight. Ending slavery did not fix the social economic degradation of Black people in the United States. Having the right to vote doesn't fix the centuries worth of housing discrimination that has left Greater Boston with huge disparities. Having nominal equality in courtrooms doesn't fix the fact that Black people are over policed, over incarcerated and more reliant on under-resourced public defenders," Miranda said.
"We cannot rest until every person in our country is free, not just from racist, violent policies and practices, not only in our city, our state and the nation, but by the inevitable, byproducts of those practices. On this Juneteenth, let us be reminded that honoring this day is not enough," the senator from Boston continued.
Lt. Gov. Driscoll joined speakers at the podium.
"When our values are attacked and our communities are disrespected, we will stand up and say loudly and proudly: We believe in diversity, we believe in equity, we believe with every fiber of our being that the Black community belongs at the table, in the boardroom, in our colleges, running our businesses and leading our government," Driscoll said.
Top Democrats focused on the placement of Massachusetts in the midst of threats to diversity in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration has moved to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Massachusetts elected officials have said they will not follow suit.
"One of the great things Trump is going to give us is the urgency to keep fighting, to keep pressing, to not lay down when he makes these inane comments that make no sense, when he starts threatening taking funding," House Speaker Ron Mariano said. "We will do the best we can to make sure no one is left behind."
Mariano spoke about the redistricting of legislative seats that happened under his speakership, promising that there will be an "expansion of power" in the minority community over the next few years.
"Whether it's Black, Latino, Asian -- the effort was made, as Russell alluded to, to create minority seats," said Mariano. "There were so many seats that had been locked off or blocked off. It took us an awful long time to get to this number. But the numbers will get easier. The numbers will get easier, folks, because if you're the town over from a minority rep now, it's a little easier for the town next to them to take that vote. And we will expand. As we stand here over the next few years, honoring the sacrifices of the folks that came before us, we will see an expansion of power in the minority community. As it should be. As it always should have been."
Senate President Karen Spilka pointed to the "tangible policy" of the Legislature that she said has helped repair some historical damage, like work to close the wage gap and address the Black maternal health crisis.
"We know that the path is stormy ahead," Spilka said. "But we know, too, that we have to celebrate days like today to make sure that our voices are heard all the way to Washington, D.C., that diversity, equity and inclusion are important. DEI is a Massachusetts value that will never, ever change."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments