In this post, we’ll read Juneteenth quotes which is a holiday in the United States that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.
Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19th and is also known as ‘Freedom Day’, ‘Jubilee Day’, ‘Liberation Day’, and ‘Emancipation Day’. The holiday commemorates the event that took place on June 19, 1865 where all enslaved people in Texas were free, making slavery officially outlawed in the country since its announcement on January 1, 1863.
In 2021, it was officially designated a federal holiday in the United States, known as “Juneteenth National Independence Day”.
This is a day to honor African American culture and heritage, reflect on the history of slavery and its impacts, and celebrate freedom and progress.
Let’s read some of the best Juneteenth quotes to celebrate this holiday!
Juneteenth Quotes
1. “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
2. “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
3. “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
4. “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
5. “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
6. “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
7. “The American education system has taught us as children that Black people have history in pain and survival. They have failed to teach us our history in joy, success, innovations and so much more. Juneteenth is a reclaim on our history that has been stolen.” — Nia White
8. “Juneteenth means so much to me. It represents the freedom that my ancestors fought so tirelessly for. But rather than focusing on the brutalization of my people then and now. I choose to focus on hope. 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
Best Juneteenth Quotes
1. “Today we know with certainty that segregation is dead. The only question remaining is how costly will be the funeral.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. “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
3. “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
4. “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
5. “One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.” — Barbara Jordan
6. “Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.” — Carol Moseley-Braun
Juneteenth Quotes on Slavery
1. “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” – Frederick Douglass
2. “…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
3. “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
4. “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.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
5. “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
6. “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
7. “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
8. “Now I’ve been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is. I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves, but I never saw one who was willing to go back and be a slave.” — Harriet Tubman
Juneteenth Quotes on Freedom
1. “It’s freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody.” — Malcolm X
2. “You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” — Malcolm X
3. “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. “I’m not quite sure what freedom is, but I know damn well what it ain’t. How have we gotten so silly, I wonder.” — Assata Shakur
5. “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
6. “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
7. “The proclamation notes that freedom shall not be repressed. This is what I believe to be the primary significance of Juneteenth. — Theodorea Regina Berry
8. “Liberty is slow fruit. It is never cheap; it is made difficult because freedom is the accomplishment and perfectness of man.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. “I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.” – Rosa Parks
10. “There is no such thing as part freedom.” – Nelson Mandela
11. “Freedom is never given; it is won.” — A. Philip Randolph
12. “What I love about Juneteenth is that even in that extended wait, we still find something to celebrate. 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
Short Juneteenth Quotes
1. “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” – Fannie Lou Hamer
2. “You may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I’ll rise.” – Maya Angelou
3. “Say it loud. I’m Black and I’m proud!” – James Brown
4. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
5. “The pursuit of justice is all I have ever known.” — Harry Belafonte
6. “I got to fight on till I leave here, and I hope I leave some footprints.” — Mattie Jones
7. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” — Ida B. Wells-Barnett
8. “The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.” — Eldridge Cleaver
9. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” — Desmond Tutu
10. “Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color.” — Unknown
11. “I refuse to be quiet in the face of injustice.” — Oprah Winfrey
12. “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” — Oprah Winfrey
13. “Movements don’t die because struggle doesn’t die.” — Harry Belafonte
14. “No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.” — Alice Walker
Powerful Juneteenth Quotes
1. “Black liberation has never just been about Black people. It’s been about a fight for our humanity, for our dignity.” — Patrisse Cullors
2. “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
3. “Let us not assume for one moment that our work is done, the struggle for equal justice continues.” — Fred David Gray
4. “I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.” — Nelson Mandela
5. “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” ― Angela Davis
6. “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
7. “In the end, anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism.” — Shirley Chisholm
8. “Every Black person you meet is a miracle… We are valuable because of our humanity and declared valuable because our ancestors declared your worth when they fought for us to live.” — Brittany Packnett Cunningham
Juneteenth Quotes For Kids
1. “We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.” — Aretha Franklin
2. “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.” – Rosa Parks
3. “To the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before.” — Kamala Harris
4. “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.
5. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — Barack Obama
6. “Don’t let anything stop you. There will be times when you’ll be disappointed, but you can’t stop.” — Sadie T. M. Alexander
7. “It doesn’t bother me at all. Do I hold any hard feelings? Not at all. Life is too short to sit around and hold grudges. I don’t hold any whatsoever.” — Kobe Bryant
Juneteenth Quotes on America
1. “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
2. “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
3. “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
4. “We are going to get out here, I am going to get out here and get something done… We have to make America uncomfortable like we’ve been uncomfortable for 400 years.” – Gwen Carr
5. “My fellow Americans, this is a special moment in our history. Just as people of all faiths and no faiths, and all backgrounds, creeds, and colors banded together decades ago to fight for equality and justice in a peaceful, orderly, nonviolent fashion, we must do so again.” – John Lewis
Motivational Juneteenth Quotes
1. “Peace is necessary. For justice, it is necessary. For hope, it is necessary, for our future.” — Harry Belafonte
2. “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
3. “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.” — Stacey Abrams
4. “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
5. “There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.” – Michelle Obama
6. “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
Juneteenth Quotes For Work
1. “Celebrating our history and looking toward the future with a smile.”
2. “We proudly celebrate diversity, freedom, and laughter!”
3. “Today and every day, we celebrate black excellence and support black voices!”
4. “Reflection, celebration, and strength. We wish you all a festive and meaningful Juneteenth.”
5. “Keep chasing your dreams with pride. Together, we can do anything.”
6. “We stand together and fight on. In honor of the past and with hope for the future.”
7. “Celebrate your history and look to the future with hope.”
8. “June 19, forever in history!”
9. “Celebrating the day we all became freer ”
10. “Cheers to freedom, cheers to change”
11. “The longest road leads to the sweetest victories.”
Happy Juneteenth Quotes
1. “Heart full of love, mind full of pride. Happy Juneteenth!”
2. “Freedom today, and freedom every day. Happy Juneteenth!”
3. “United we stand and united we eat. Who’s with me?”
4. “Celebrating Juneteenth and our freedom with BBQs and love. ”
5. “Keep calm and celebrate freedom.”
6. “Happy Juneteenth. May we celebrate freedom and work towards future progress.”
7. “May you celebrate freedom, heritage, and dreams this Juneteenth.”
8. “Wishing you peace and a happy Juneteenth.”
9. “Every Juneteenth, we remember: freedom was never free.”
10. “Our joy is inherited; our struggle shared.”
Juneteenth Captions for Social Media
1. “Have a strong, proud, and Black Juneteenth.”
2. “Freedom wasn’t free, but it was definitely meant to be. Onward and upward!”
3. “Juneteenth is our Story of Glory.”
4. “Freedom rings louder today!”
5. “Celebrating emancipation and unity today.”
6. “Living the freedom dream in honor of Juneteenth.”
7. “My motto this Juneteenth? Dress to excess!”
8. “Let the bells of freedom ring louder than ever.”
9. “From chains to change.”
10. “Black history is today!”
11. “From Juneteenth to infinity, our spirit is unbreakable.”
12. “Dancing into Juneteenth to the rhythm of sweet freedom with a hefty dose of BBQ sauce.”
13. “Resilience and remembrance.”
14. “Blessed, not stressed, and BBQ obsessed.”
15. “Have a proud Juneteenth!”
16. “Flourish and be free this Juneteenth.”
17. “Strength in the struggle.”
18. “Unshackled and unstoppable.”
19. “Freedom is the only outfit I’m rocking today.”
20. “Unity in diversity, power in heritage.”
21. “Live, laugh, Juneteenth!”
These Juneteenth quotes highlight the importance of acknowledging and learning from history while continuing to work toward equality and freedom for all.
The holiday is a significant and meaningful celebration of freedom, resilience, and the enduring spirit of African American communities and a time to remember the past, celebrate progress, and continue striving for a more just and equitable society.
Celebrate the day by sharing these Juneteenth quotes on social media!
Also Read:
