Every June 19th we reflect on the day in 1865 when enslaved Blacks in Galveston, Texas, finally learned they were free—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. It’s a day of remembrance, progress, and continued hope for racial justice and equality. These powerful Juneteenth quotes capture the spirit of freedom, justice, and resilience at the heart of this important day.
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Juneteenth Quotes for Everyone
1. Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. Instead, it’s a celebration of progress. — Barack Obama
2. Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation. — Coretta Scott King
3. We have suffered discrimination. … 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
5. There are still so many causes worth sacrificing for. There is still so much history yet to be made. — Michelle Obama
6. 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
7. My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. — Desmond Tutu
8. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
9. Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another. — Toni Morrison
10. It doesn’t matter whether we are Black or white or Latino or Asian American or Native American. We are one people, we are one family, we are one house. — John Lewis
11. You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. — Malcolm X
12. 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
13. We black folk, our history, and our present being, are a mirror of all the manifold experiences of America. What we want, what we represent, what we endure is what America is. If we black folk perish, America will perish. — Richard Wright
14. If you dare to struggle, you dare to win. If you dare not to struggle, then, God damn it, you don’t deserve to win. — Fred Hampton
15. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. — Martin Luther King Jr.
16. You can cage the singer but not the song. — Harry Belafonte
17. Human rights are something you were born with. … Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth. — Malcolm X
18. The day that we were freed, everyone was freed. So why not make that a paid holiday? We deserve that … [a day] that is inclusive of everyone. — Pharrell Williams
19. 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
20. The persistence of violent white nationalism … these things have deep, ugly roots, inextricably tied to slavery and its aftermath. And we’d be better off just unearthing it and airing it out if we really want repair. — Joy Reid
21. You may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I’ll rise. — Maya Angelou
23. I prayed for freedom for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. — Frederick Douglass
24. Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty, and justice for all, including the Black women, who are too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy. — Kamala Harris
25. In the end, anti-Black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism. — Shirley Chisholm
26. The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. — Ida B. Wells
27. Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced. — James Baldwin
28. The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. — Alice Walker
29. I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free … so other people would be also free. — Rosa Parks
30. If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair. — Shirley Chisholm
31. We have simply got to make people aware that none of us are free until we’re all free. — Opal Lee
32. We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are. — Oprah Winfrey
33. Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind. — James Baldwin
34. Where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. — Barack Obama
36. I’ve got to fight until I leave here, and I hope to leave some footprints. — Mattie Jones
37. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America. — Michelle Obama
38. Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in. — Martin Luther King Jr.
39. I don’t measure America by its achievement but by its potential. — Shirley Chisholm
40. Let no voice but your own speak to you from the depths. Let no influence but your own raise you in time of peace and time of war. — Marcus Garvey
41. There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up. — Booker T. Washington
42. I thrive on obstacles. If I’m told that it can’t be done, then I push harder. — Issa Rae
43. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. — Ida B. Wells
44. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Martin Luther King Jr.
45. Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth. — Shirley Chisholm
47. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. — Martin Luther King Jr.
48. Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. … 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
49. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. — Martin Luther King Jr.
50. A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of. — Nelson Mandela
51. Civility is the recognition that all people have dignity that’s inherent to their person, no matter their religion, race, gender, sexuality, or ability. — Opal Tometi
52. We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. — Martin Luther King Jr.
53. When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began. — Stacey Abrams
54. 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
55. Movements don’t die because struggle doesn’t die. — Harry Belafonte
56. You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time. — Angela Davis
57. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. — Martin Luther King Jr.
58. But if you know what life is worth You would look for yours on Earth And now you see the light You stand up for your right. — Bob Marley
59. If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence you have won even before you have started. — Marcus Garvey
60. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. — Martin Luther King Jr.
61. Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. — John Lewis
62. It’s freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody. — Malcolm X
63. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. — Nelson Mandela
64. You cannot take your freedoms for granted. Just like generations who have come before you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect those freedoms. — Michelle Obama
65. I knew then and I know now, when it comes to justice, there’s no easy way to get it. You can’t sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, “This is not right.” — Claudette Colvin
66. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. — Martin Luther King Jr.
67. Our strength lies in the fact that we are supported by the majority of Americans. And our motivation lies in our obligation to make sure their voices are heard and acknowledged by those who set public policy in this country. — Faye Wattleton
68. Let us not assume for one moment that our work is done. The struggle for equal justice continues. — Fred David Gray
69. No matter who you are or what you look like, how you started off, or how and who you love, America is a place where you can write your own destiny. — Barack Obama
70. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. — John Lewis
71. Remember this in the darkest moments, when the work doesn’t seem worth it, and change seems just out of reach: Out of our willingness to push through comes a tremendous power—use it. — Stacey Abrams
72. Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. — Booker T. Washington
73. I just don’t know how to describe it. I just feel like it’s the beginning of something great, and I want to be a part of it. — Opal Lee
74. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America—there’s the United States of America. — Barack Obama
75. When day comes we step out of the shade Aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it For there is always light If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. — Amanda Gorman
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Don’t forget to download your free Juneteenth quote posters, featuring five of our favorite quotes for the classroom.
![The day that we were freed, everyone was freed. So why not make that a paid holiday? We deserve that … [a day] that is inclusive of everyone. — Pharrell Williams](https://myquickfit.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Juneteenth-quote-800x800.jpg "Juneteenth quote")
