Juneteenth

June 19 is celebrated by many Americans as Juneteenth, the day when slaves in Texas learned they were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation officially ended slavery in the USA. Today members of Don’t Shoot Portland celebrated Juneteenth in memory of Philando Castile, killed by police in Minnesota for driving while Black, and Charleena Lyles, killed by police in Seattle yesterday for reporting a burglary at her home. 

In this photograph, members of Don’t Shoot are singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called the Black National Anthem. If you’d like to hear it, there’s a beautifully-rendered a capella version here.