On June 19, 1865 — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation — Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, declaring that all people who were enslaved were to be freed.
Upon hearing of their freedom, the newly freed Americans broke out in celebration of prayer, food, song, and dance. Slavery had been over, but many Black Americans were still not free until that day in June.
This is the spirit of Juneteenth: We don’t celebrate the day when change is announced, we celebrate the day when justice is made real for every single last one of us.
Growing up as the son of educators in Mobile, Alabama, serving in the United States Army, and now working as a congressman representing Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, I have seen firsthand the progress we’ve made in this country over the decades. However, even today, many are still left behind.
So on Juneteenth, we remember our history, we celebrate how far we’ve come, and we recommit to the words of the grandmother of Juneteenth, Miss Opal Lee: “None of us are free until we're all free.”
Congressman Sanford Bishop is serving in the United States House of Representatives, representing the constituents of the Second Congressional District of Georgia. A consensus builder who works with members on both sides of the aisle, Congressman Bishop is uniquely dedicated to his constituents and has demonstrated himself as a leader inside of Congress.
