As we approach another Juneteenth celebration, I’d like to lean on the 2016 words from our forever president, President Barack Obama.
Juneteenth is a time to recommit ourselves to the work that remains undone. We remember that even in the darkest hours, there is cause to hope for tomorrow’s light. Today, no matter our race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, we recommit ourselves to working to free modern-day slaves around the world and to honoring in our own time the efforts of those who fought so hard to steer our country truer to our highest ideals.
These words ring true and higher than ever after almost four years under Trump’s (not so great) America.
While many find themselves deterred, this November YOU have a choice to change the downturn of this country and the course of our history.
To pump yourself up for the polls and honor Juneteenth, watch the moving speeches below.
1.
Source: Radio One Digital
2. "Honoring Juneteenth: Our Power in Time" Spoken Word Written And Performed By Alix Philogene
Together we can, we must, and we will form a more perfect union.
3. Tupac Talks Donald Trump & Greed in America
Tupac Shakur passionately explains his views on generosity and responsibility, traits he feels some people with extreme wealth like Donald Trump lack, in this MTV News clip from 1992.
4. Obama Discusses Race Relations in the US
Watch Obama explain why a ‘post-racial America’ was always unrealistic during his farewell speech.
5. "I'm mad as hell" – Killer Mike's Emotional Speech
“I’m mad as hell. I woke up wanting to see the world burn down yesterday because I’m tired of seeing Black men die. He casually put his knee on a human being’s neck for nine minutes as he died like a Zebra in the clutch of a Lion’s jaw, and we watch like murder porn over and over again. So that’s why children are burning it to the ground: they don’t know what else to do. And it is the responsibility of us to make this better. Right now. We don’t want to see one officer charged. We want to see four officers prosecuted and sentenced. We don’t don’t want to see Target’s burning, we want to see the system that sets up for systemic racism BURNT TO THE GROUND.”
6. David Banner on Racism: "Blame Yourself"
ESSENCE Live host Dana Blair sits down with rapper David Banner to discuss his views on racism.
7. Common On The State Of Race Relations In America
From the Series: The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X was outraged after a confrontation with the LAPD outside a mosque resulted in the death of a Nation of Islam member in 1962.
9. Tupac On Race And Equality
10. James Baldwin on the Black Experience in America
From a 1960 Canadian television interview, broadcaster Nathan Cohen talks to author James Baldwin about race relations and the black experience in the United States.
11. I Have a Dream Speech By Martin Luther King .Jr
“I Have a Dream” is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.
