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Rep. Maxine Waters’ Juneteenth Message: "Everything is Going to be Alright"

June 19, 2020

LOS ANGELES – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) delivered an uplifting message to the African American community in recognition of Juneteenth, the holiday that recognizes the true end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865 – more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery -- Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas to make the last slaves aware of their freedom. 155 years later, the fight for freedom, justice, and equality continue.

"B.B. King sang the blues…and Kendrick Lamar rapped ‘alright,'" said Congresswoman Maxine Waters. "Now I truly believe we will ‘be alright' because of the people who are now in the streets all over the world protesting the killing and the abuse of Black men and women. I'm with Kendrick Lamar. Everything is going to ‘be alright.'"

Congresswoman Waters also paid tribute to her dear friend, the late- Representative Al Lawson of Texas who is known as the "Father of Juneteenth" as a result of his successful effort to make Texas the first state to create a paid, statewide Juneteenth Holiday in 1980.

Watch her full video here.

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