- HUMOR
100 Eclipse Jokes That Will Have You Laughing in the Shadows
Juneteenth, observed every year on June 19, marks a pivotal moment in American history—the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last remaining enslaved African Americans. More than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation, freedom finally reached those still held in bondage. Today, Juneteenth is both a celebration of emancipation and a reminder of the ongoing journey toward justice, equity, and true liberation.
One powerful way to honor this day is through the voices of those who have shaped, survived, and challenged the narrative of American freedom. From abolitionists and civil rights leaders to modern thinkers and artists, their words remind us of the enduring spirit of resilience and the importance of remembering the past while building a better future.
Here are 70 powerful Juneteenth quotes, categorized by theme, to inspire reflection, remembrance, and celebration.
Freedom & Liberation
- “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” — Fannie Lou Hamer
- “Emancipation was a proclamation, but freedom is a destination.” — Jesse Jackson
- “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” — Angela Davis
- “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced… neither persons nor property will be safe.” — Frederick Douglass
- “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Nelson Mandela
- “Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.” — George Washington
- “Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. They claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.” — Kwame Nkrumah
- “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it in every generation.” — Coretta Scott King
- “Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
Resilience & Strength
- “The soul that is within me no man can degrade.” — Frederick Douglass
- “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” — Desmond Tutu
- “Still, like dust, I’ll rise.” — Maya Angelou
- “I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.” — Unknown
- “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Theodore Parker, popularized by Martin Luther King Jr.
- “We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be.” — Amanda Gorman
- “We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.” — James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing
- “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” — Mexican Proverb
- “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Frederick Douglass
- “Truth crushed to earth shall rise again.” — William Cullen Bryant
Hope & Progress
- “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
- “Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” — Walt Whitman
- “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.” — Emily Dickinson
- “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” — Maya Angelou
- “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” — Harriet Tubman
- “Lift up your eyes upon this day breaking for you. Give birth again to the dream.” — Maya Angelou
- “Juneteenth reminds us that change is possible, and hope is necessary.” — Barack Obama
- “We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Pride & Identity
- “Black is beautiful.” — Kwame Brathwaite
- “I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.” — Bell Hooks
- “I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” — Audre Lorde
- “Define yourself for yourself.” — Toni Morrison
- “The color of my skin is not a crime.” — Unknown
- “Juneteenth is a celebration of Black joy, resistance, and perseverance.” — Brittney Cooper
- “We wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes.” — Paul Laurence Dunbar
- “I’m rooted, but I flow.” — Virginia Woolf, embraced in Black feminist thought
- “Your crown has been bought and paid for. Put it on your head and wear it.” — Maya Angelou
- “Being Black is not a matter of pigmentation—being Black is a reflection of a mental attitude.” — Steven Biko
Legacy & Remembrance
- “Juneteenth is a second Independence Day—a chance to remember, to honor, to celebrate.” — Opal Lee
- “We are the living monuments of our ancestors’ resistance.” — Dr. Yaba Blay
- “The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality.” — Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” — Jane Goodall
- “To acknowledge our ancestors means we are aware that we did not make ourselves.” — Alice Walker
- “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “They knew that love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Juneteenth isn’t just Black history. It’s American history.” — Angela Rye
- “Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit.” — Herbert Hoover
- “Our history has been stolen. But we are reclaiming it—one story, one song, one celebration at a time.” — Unknown
Unity & Community
- “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” — Margaret J. Wheatley
- “When we unite, we don’t just survive—we thrive.” — Stacey Abrams
- “None of us is free until all of us are free.” — Emma Lazarus, echoed by civil rights leaders
- “Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” — Ola Joseph
- “We need to do more than remember Juneteenth—we must live its spirit in our actions.” — Bryan Stevenson
- “We all do better when we all do better.” — Paul Wellstone
- “I am because we are.” — African Proverb (Ubuntu)
- “There is strength in unity and honor in remembering.” — Unknown
- “We have more in common than we have in difference.” — Dr. Maya Angelou
- “To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step.” — Rosa Parks
Modern Voices & Cultural Reflections
- “Freedom is not just a date. It’s a way of living, loving, and lifting others.” — Michelle Obama
- “Juneteenth is not the end of slavery’s story, but the beginning of freedom’s journey.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates
- “The struggle continues, but so does the song.” — Brittney Packnett Cunningham
- “Black freedom is not conditional. It is a right.” — Alicia Garza
- “We are descendants of people who made a way out of no way.” — Ralph Ellison
- “Celebrate Juneteenth not only with joy but with responsibility.” — Ibram X. Kendi
- “Our joy is an act of resistance.” — Toi Derricotte
- “Juneteenth is the story of survival, of faith, of victory through unimaginable odds.” — Nikole Hannah-Jones
- “History is not just what we inherit—it’s what we choose to become.” — Colson Whitehead
- “We remember so we can rise.” — Unknown
Juneteenth is more than a date—it is a declaration. A call to remember the pain of the past, honor the strength of those who endured, and continue the work toward true freedom and justice for all. Let these 70 quotes serve not only as a tribute to that legacy but also as fuel for the journey ahead. As we reflect, let us celebrate; as we remember, let us rise.
