57 Empowering Juneteenth Quotes That Honor Freedom Day

For decades, Texans have celebrated Juneteenth in recognition of the historic day in which enslaved people in Galveston were finally informed of their freedom – two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Since the 1980s, the holiday has been acknowledged in the state, and in 2021, it became a federal holiday in the United States, making it more widely celebrated.

As people across the country commemorate the day with parades, pageants, block parties, family cookouts, joy and reflection, they may also take the time to share Juneteenth quotes detailing the resilience and strength of Black Americans throughout history. Our collection includes words from famous activists, leaders and change makers.

Be sure to include these inspirational words in a message with friends or use them to caption an Instagram post. And to continue your celebration and learning more about Jubilee Day, you can check out our collection of Juneteenth books.

• “Juneteenth was a promise that was broken. Reconstruction failed and this country has continued to wage war on the Black body. Juneteenth also embodies the resilience of Black people. Even in the face of a broken system, we choose to find joy in resistance and celebrate in community.” — Obrian Rosario
• “Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth.” — Malcolm X
• “They can laugh, but they can’t deny us. They can curse and kill us but they can’t destroy us. This land is ours because we come out of it, we bled in it, our tears watered it, we fertilized it with our dead. So the more of us they destroy, the more it becomes filled with the spirit of our redemption.” —Ralph Ellison
  
• “We all require and want respect, man or woman, Black or white. It's our basic human right.” — Aretha Franklin
• “If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love. But we need to know, you can’t erase history. So, let’s learn from it and be damned sure it doesn’t happen again.” — Opal Lee

• “You must never, ever give out. We must keep the faith because we are one people. We are brothers and sisters. We all live in the same house: The American house.” — John Lewis
• “Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: 'I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.'”- Maya Angelou
• “The 4th of July was never about Black people. Juneteenth is just for us. As Black people, we are told we don’t deserve our own holidays rooted in our own history. Everything is whitewashed. Juneteenth is for us… Juneteenth symbolizes the hope that my children and grandchildren will be free. It’s Black Joy and Black tenacity to survive.” — Tanesha Grant
• “June 19th reminds me that I am the force of power to change this world and to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors to work towards liberation.” — Mariah Cooley
• “Juneteenth may mark just one moment in the struggle for emancipation, but the holiday gives us an occasion to reflect on the profound contributions of enslaved Black Americans to the cause of human freedom.” —Jamelle Bouie
• “It's an opportunity to both look back but to look ahead to make sure that that notion of freedom and the fragility of it is always protected and celebrated.” —Lonnie Bunch
• “Every Black person you meet is a miracle... We are valuable because of our humanity and declared valuable because our ancestors declared our worth when they fought for us to live.” —Brittany Packnett
• “What historical narrative are we willing to weave in order to remind people not only that we were here enduring the trials but that we stared the fang toothed wolves of injustice in the face and said ‘no more.’” —Travon Free
• “Even though the story has never been tidy, and Black folks have had to march and fight for every inch of our freedom, our story is nonetheless one of progress.” —Michelle Obama

• “Every year we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of events that one by one defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations. That's why we need this holiday.” —Al Edwards
  
• “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” —Toni Morrison
• “Words of Emancipation didn't arrive until the middle of June so they called it Juneteenth. So that was it, the night of Juneteenth celebration, his mind went on. The celebration of a gaudy illusion.” —Ralph Ellison
• “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.” —Coretta Scott King
• “I think Juneteenth feels a little different now. It’s an opportunity for folks to kind of catch their breath about what has been this incredible pace of change and shifting that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks.” —Mark Anthony Neal
  
• “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”— Alice Walker

• “Early on, the spelling of the holiday was not yet fixed, often appearing as 'June 'teenth,' 'June-teenth,' or 'June teenth.' The Dictionary of American Regional English records another variant Texan form, 'June the tenth,' The legend is that the 'teenth' is because the news is delivered on different days to different groups.” — Leslie Wilson
• “We have simply got to make people aware that none of us are free until we’re all free, and we aren’t free yet.”— Opal Lee
• “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.” — John Lewis
• “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” — Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• “Juneteenth is important to me because till this day black people are still subject to racial injustice on a global scale, and are still victims of racial abuse regardless of where they are from. Juneteenth allows us to remember how far black people have progressed since and it is a reminder of the strength we have within us.” — Bethel Kyeza
• “Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known by many names: Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day, Emancipation Day and, today, a national holiday.” — Kamala Harris

• “Understanding history is one of many ways to break the cycle. Lift up/amplify Black voices. Support Black owned businesses. Reach back. Mentor.” —Chadwick Boseman
• “The day we were free—everyone was free. Why not make it a paid holiday? We deserve that…We want a day that is inclusive to everyone.” —Pharrell Williams
• “There’s no other race, to me, that has such a tough history for hundreds and hundreds of years, and only the strong survive, so we were the strongest and the most mentally tough, and I’m really proud to wear this color every single day of my life.”—Serena Williams
• “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 Nkruma
• “If there is just about anything to rejoice it can be my ancestors, African People who survived the atrocity and stain of slavery… I honor them these days with a guarantee that I will keep on to combat for your unexplored desires and hopes.” —Viola Davis

• “We are not ready to fight because we love fighting. We are ready to fight because we are worth fighting for.” – Zoé Samudzi
• “If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go.” — James Baldwin
• “What the people want is simple. They want an America as good as its promise.” —Barbara C. Jordan
• “You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” — Malcolm X
• “Won’t it be wonderful when Black history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history.” — Maya Angelou
• “Today on Juneteenth, the day we celebrate the end of slavery, the day we memorialize those who offered us hope for the future and the day when we renew our commitment to the struggle for freedom.” —Angela Davis

• “The proclamation notes that freedom shall not be repressed. This is what I believe to be the primary significance of Juneteenth.” —Theodorea Regina Berry
• “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.” —Rosa Parks
• “We never got the 40 acres. We went all the way to Herbert Hoover, and we never got the 40 acres. We didn’t get the mule. So we decided we’d ride this donkey as far as it would take us.” —Rev. Al Sharpton
• “Every June 19th is an opportunity for us to continue the momentum of memory, and the parade and the self-determination movements.” —Dr. Greg Carr

• “Slavery is theft—theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce, theft even of the children a slave might have borne.” — Kevin Bales
• “Juneteenth is another moment for me and my loved ones to build an archive of truth and experience of (ourselves) Black folks.” —Tatiana Glover
• “There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” — Booker T. Washington
• “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — Barack Obama
• “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
• “You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much — for we can’t take more than our pint’ll hold.” — Sojourner Truth
  
• “Whether it’s freedom to express, freedom to live, freedom to earn, freedom to thrive, freedom to learn, whatever it is, I want to make sure that I’m a part of these spaces and opening doors.”—Angela Rye

• “We have suffered discrimination. We have suffered isolation and undermining. But we stand up for America, oftentimes when others who think they are more patriotic, who say they are more patriotic, do not.” —Maxine Waters
• “If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho’ we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
• “We Black folk, our history, and our present being are a mirror of all the manifold experiences of America… If we Black folk perish, America will perish.” —Richard Wright
• “Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. It’s a celebration of progress. It’s an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, change is possible—and there is still so much work to do.” —Barack Obama

Diego Wyatt

Diego Wyatt is the lead brand strategy lead for One North, crafting compelling stories that cut through the static. As a creative director, he is committed to creating forward brand experiences for clients in the arts and entertainment sector. 

Cameron Jenkins

Staff Writer

Cameron (she/her) is a staff writer for Good Housekeeping, where she covers everything from holidays to food. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a B.A. in magazine journalism. In her spare-time she can be found scrolling TikTok for the latest cleaning hacks and restaurant openings, binge-watching seasons of Project Runway or online shopping.