Juneteenth commemorates the end of chattel slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865, union troops arrived in Galveston Island to inform the enslaved people in Texas that the heinous system of slavery had ended.  This declaration of freedom took place two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth raises the important question of the legacy of slavery and the root causes of white supremacy.  U.S. capitalism was literally built on the backs of African slaves and on the theft of Indigenous lands. The original promise of an acre and a mule to all those enslaved was reneged on and the period of Black reconstruction was overthrown.

The Peoples Power Assembly supports the demand for reparations.We believe  It is up to the Black community to decide how and what form reparations take.

This legacy is still with us today and reflected in modern day police departments whose history can be traced back to the slave catchers and to mass incarceration.

On this day we  pay homage to those who lost their lives in the 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the bigot Trump is scheduled to speak.  Trump’s appearance in Tulsa during the Juneteenth weekend is deeply disturbing.  The Tulsa massacre  and burning of what is  described as the “Black Wallstreet”, took the lives of hundreds of Black people by white racist mobs.

In commemoration of Juneteenth, we are holding a March and People’s Assembly tomorrow, Saturday, June 20th at 2 pm. Gather at 20th & N Charles St. We will march to City Hall and hold a People’s Assembly where people will share their stories about police abuse and how the money spent on repression and police terror could save our communities instead.

We especially salute the ILWU Local 10 and it’s supporters who are showing the way for all workers today!

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