As most of you have no doubt learned, this afternoon, President Joe Biden signed the bill making Juneteenth a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. In signing the bill, the President commented. “ ..This day doesn’t just celebrate the past. It calls for action today.”
As we reflect on this long-awaited action spurred on by the activism and courage of Ms. Opal Lee of Fort Worth, Texas, we must recommit to a continued striving to improve upon the benefits that we have all received from those who fought for our freedom and civil rights. We can achieve that by being equitable ourselves, by respecting difference, by speaking truth to power, by accepting the full burden of citizenship, and by fighting hopelessness. In the tradition of our Prairie View A&M forebears, we must be believers in and agents for justice, acting always on the belief that every human being, by God’s grace, is born free and equal.
Happy Juneteenth!
Ruth J. Simmons
President