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To many Americans, Juneteenth is a fairly new federal holiday. But the first celebrations of this extraordinary moment in American history took place 159 years ago.
In school we were all taught that “Lincoln freed the slaves.” Today we know the story did not end there, and that in fact the struggle for Black liberation is ongoing – and we each have a part to play.
To put it simply, a debt is owed.
The historic crime of enslavement must be addressed beginning with a guarantee of reparations paid directly to the descendants of African slaves as an unequivocal human right.
We don’t need any further debate on whether reparations should be paid. They should, without question, as they were in 1988 to those impacted by WWII Japanese internment camps.
Yet just as the systemic oppression of Black Americans did not end with the legal abolishment of chattel slavery, reparations are merely the beginning – not the end – of the agenda we urgently need to embrace to facilitate Black liberation in America.
Civil Rights legend Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free."
Everything that Black Americans are fighting for aligns with the Green Party agenda and a progressive vision for our collective future.
Our platform for Black liberation is the collaborative work of our team and Black community members who are directly impacted by these issues in their daily lives. You can read more here: jillstein2024.com/platform
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