Chris Smith, Faith Liaison, Mayor's Office of Mass Engagement: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Mayor Zohran Kwame Mandami's Juneteenth celebration here at Gracie Mansion. My name is Chris Smith, and I serve as the faith liaison for the Mayor's Office of Mass Engagement, where we work to build meaningful partnerships with faith communities across New York City, connecting them to resources, uplifting their voices and strengthening their impact in our neighborhoods.
I'd like to shout out a few people from our admin that are here today. So, if you're here, please wave your hand so those know that you're in the room. We have [Alister Martin], commissioner for New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We have Rebecca Jones Gaston, commissioner for Administrative for Children Services. We have Edwin Raymond, sheriff of the New York City Office of the Sheriff of the City of New York. We have Stanley Richards, commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction. Kamar Samuels — he is our New York City Public Schools chancellor. We also have Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, commissioner of New York City Department of Records and Information Services, DORIS. We have Lisa Gelobter. She's the New York City Chief Technology Officer and commissioner for Office of Technology and Information Innovation.
Also with us, I'll say this real quick, we have Dean Fuleihan, first deputy mayor [for the] Office of the Mayor. Renita Francois, she's a Deputy Mayor for Community Safety. Dr. Helen Arteaga, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services. Julie Su, deputy mayor for Economic Justice. You'll hear from her shortly, Afua Atta-Mensah, she's here — Chief Equity Officer and commissioner for Mayor's Office of Equity and Racial Justice. Jahmila Edwards, director of Mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Michael Garner, chief business diversity officer [for the] Mayor's Office of [Minority] and Women-owned [Business] Enterprises. And we also have with us Ramzi Kassem, he's the chief counsel to the mayor, as well as the chief of staff to the mayor, Elle, [who] is also here with us. I want to thank you all for being here to celebrate Juneteenth with us. A powerful reminder of freedom, resilience and the ongoing journey toward justice. At this time, it is my honor to welcome Reverend Orsella, she is from the Saint Luke AME Harlem Church.
Reverend Orsella Hughes, Saint Luke AME Harlem Church: Hello, family. That's right, cousins, we are here. Let us pray. Gracious and eternal God, as we gather this day with the spirit of Juneteenth on our minds and our hearts full of gratitude, remembrance and hope, we thank you for your strength of those who endured the chains of slavery, the courage of those who fought for freedom and the faith of generations who believed that justice would one day rise like the morning sun. God of justice, remind us that freedom is not simply the absence of oppression, but the presence of dignity, opportunity and belonging for all people. Help us to build communities where every child is valued, every family is supported and every person can live without fear, discrimination or injustice.
We gather, remembering June 19, 1865, when the news of freedom finally reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas. We honor their resilience, sacrifice, creativity and contributions of African Americans whose labor, vision and determination helped shape this nation. We give thanks for the victories won and acknowledge the work that still remains before us. We pray for the people of this great city. Bless our neighborhoods, our schools, our houses of worship, our businesses and all who call this city home.
Grant wisdom, compassion and integrity to those entrusted with public service, including our mayor, elected officials, community leaders, first responders, educators and advocates. Strengthen them to serve with humility and a commitment to the common good. As we celebrate Juneteenth, may we not only remember history, but also be inspired to shape a better future. Teach us to bridge division, to listen with understanding, to stand with those who are marginalized and to work together for justice and peace.
Let this gathering be a testament to what is possible when people of different backgrounds, faith traditions, cultures and experiences come together in mutual respect and shared purpose. And now, God bless the remainder of this celebration. Bless every family represented here, every elder whose wisdom guides us, every young person whose dreams will carry us forward and every hand committed to building a more just and compassionate society.
But as we prepare to leave this moment of prayer, may the words of our ancestors remain our testimony and our commitment to lift every voice and sing. Till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies. Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
And even when we're tired, God help us to sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of hope that the present has brought us. As we face the rising sun, our new day has begun. Let us march on till victory is won. Amen.
Monifa Bandele, Vice President and Chief Partnership & Diversity Officer MomsRising, ACLU: Hey family. How y’all doing? Happy freedom week. I was honored to be invited today to speak as a precursor to our youth leader, that will be speaking after me, and so, when I talk about Juneteenth, it will be within the amazing power, drive and dedication of Black youth. Are you guys with me? Juneteenth is an intergenerational celebration of resistant to and victory over oppression. It’s a story of never giving up, even in the face of delayed freedom. On June 19, 1865, Union Army Major General Granger landed on the shores of Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order Number 3, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation, but more than two years after he had already been issued. Granger and Union troops liberated more than 250,000 imprisoned and forced-labor Black folks. But as with most historical accounts, that's only a fraction of the story. Y'all know that right? We only get a little piece of it. General Granger — Granger was the general, but the 2,000 mostly Black Union soldiers were the force. They were the force behind the liberation of African people in Texas and the resistance to this remaining Confederate stronghold. They were the resistance physically and narratively. Can you imagine our ancestors seeing those troops land on those shores? Furthermore, teenagers and young men under 23 made up the majority of this force. I grew up knowing all about Juneteenth because I have deep roots in South Texas. My mother, Marie Francis, was born just miles away from Galveston in Wharton County, Texas. Only 80 years after this historic event, she knew personally, elders who were alive when the Black people of Texas were liberated from slavery.
My grandparents, born in the 1920s, had even deeper connections with elders who remembered the day vividly and they passed that story down to the next generation. This is not ancient history y'all. Don't let them tell you this is ancient history. The story of Juneteenth is also often characterized as General Granger coming to Galveston, sometimes it sounds like he came there by himself, to inform Black Texans of an emancipation that they were unaware of and then suddenly, poof, they were happy and free. My mother asserts, without hesitation, through direct oral history, that the Black people in Texas knew about emancipation.
One, because they had been fighting for it for centuries, but also their ongoing imprisonment was not a function of their ignorance, it was a matter of power and enforcement. It wasn't the word that traveled slow, it was the enforcement of Black liberation that moved at the speed to deference to white supremacy and white privilege. When my mother migrated to Brooklyn, New York, in the 1970s, she met my dad, got married, had two kids, I'm one of them and she was astonished at how many New Yorkers, New Yorkers new and generations old, thought that chattel slavery was an institution only of the American South. She was shocked, right, that this is what the thought was.
As a social worker and educator, she made it a point to teach New Yorkers about 1827 and the act of the gradual abolition of slavery. While in the 70s, her proximity to individuals who experienced this inhumane and barbaric institution in the South may have been a bit closer by 40 years to what happened in New York. New York and Texas have a shared history of delayed liberation. In fact, they say that emancipation was in 1799, but Africans in New York State weren't free until 1827, a full 28 years later, and we find that this story of delayed emancipation happened all over the nation. What's telling about this New York delay is that it robbed young Black people of their childhood and their youth.
You see, in 1799, certain groups of people were emancipated, but children and youth had to remain in servitude to slave owners. The age was 25 for women and 27 for young men. This was to extract their labor, so they were not only the people exploited during this time, [but] they were also the liberatory forces of this era to abolish slavery. So finally, while we celebrate Juneteenth and the resistance to the Confederacy in the South and acknowledge Texas as the last state to end slavery as a practice, we know that we must not forget Mississippi — “hold my beer” — they didn't ratify until 1995. How many people in the room were alive in 1995? Okay, Mississippi, hold my beer — they didn’t ratify till 1995. How many people in the room were alive in 1995? Okay, Mississippi said “hold my beer.” But here [are] the lessons I want to leave of Juneteenth moving forward to our youth speaker. One — four lessons. One, never give up. Two, the South is everywhere y'all. I believe it was Malcolm X that said as long as you're south of the Canadian border, you're in the South. Three, Black imprisonment and forced labor is not ancient history. And finally, our young people are not only the often the targets of racialized terror and discrimination, but they have always been and continue to be on the front lines of liberation. Happy Juneteenth y'all.
Xzayla Wilson, President, NAACP Staten Island's Youth Council: Good evening, everyone. My name is Xzayla Wilson, and I'm honored to stand before you today as a graduating high school senior at Brooklyn High School of the Arts. I'm the president of the NAACP Staten Island Youth Council. And I'm also secretary of [the] NAACP New York State Youth and College State Conference. First, I want to thank Mayor Mamdani, the Mayor's Office and NYC Her Future for giving me the opportunity to use my voice to uplift today. Most importantly, to all of you gathered here at Gracie Mansion and for recognizing the significance of Juneteenth and creating space to celebrate Black history, Black excellence and Black freedom.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that they were free, which is more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. But Juneteenth is more than a date in history. It is a reminder that freedom delayed is justice delayed. It is a reminder of the resilience, strength [and] determination of generations who fought for opportunities many of us enjoy today. But also, as a young person, Juneteenth reminds me that I have a responsibility and opportunity to learn our history, tell our stories and honor those who came before us. And most importantly, that the fight is not over. There are so many people out there struggling because of systemic and even physical and medical boundaries, especially people of color. Juneteenth is a reminder that our ancestors fought for our freedom out of slavery, and which is why we must fight our way out of oppression.
This year, I am graduating and preparing to enter Long Island University to pursue my bachelor's in music education. I am excited, but also nervous, as there are many walls that were built to keep me from success. I am lucky to have the support system — a.k.a. my mom, who's taking lots of pictures right now — but also, I'm lucky as a young Black woman to have the knowledge and courage to fight as my ancestors did, which is what I want everybody here to walk away with today. I've always wanted to be a music educator because I had limited access to music education and teaching growing up. I want to make that accessible to more and, hopefully, one day all young people. I'm entering this next chapter determined to continue to find the courage to honor, celebrate and live with the weight of Black excellence, because it is heavy.
As president of the NAACP Staten Island Youth Council, I have seen firsthand that progress does not happen by accident. It happens when people organize, it happens when communities show up and it happens when young people find their voices and use them. As Ms. Monifa mentioned before, young people were the people who led our fight to freedom. Our generation is not waiting for the future. We are helping shape it right now.
As we celebrate this evening, let us also recommit ourselves to the unfinished work of freedom. Let us continue building a city, a nation, where equity is not only an aspiration but a reality. Remember to invest in young people, uplift our communities and ensure that the promise of Juneteenth lives on in opportunities that we create, especially for young people every day.
Thank you for believing in the power of community, the power of service and the power of hope, as you've shown by being here today. And that we may continue moving forward together, stronger, united and committed to justice for all people. And Happy Juneteenth.
Afua Atta-Mensah, Chief Equity Officer and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice: Hey, good evening, everyone. It is an absolute pleasure to be here with so many civic and community leaders and elected officials as we celebrate Juneteenth this week. As we have heard from Monifa and Exayla, Juneteenth is much more than a date in history. It is a reminder of a continuous journey carried forward by generations of Black people, who refuse to surrender their dignity, their humanity or their hope. Juneteenth is rooted in the courage of those who endure the brutality of slavery while fighting and praying for a future beyond it. At a time when we are seeing challenges to voting rights, access to health care and our very humanity, Juneteenth also calls us to remember that progress has never been inevitable. Each generation must carry the work forward, and each generation must share our history and stories with the next one.
Juneteenth is not only a story of struggle; it is also a celebration of the extraordinary strength, creativity, vision and leadership of our people. That spirit is reflected in the words you heard earlier: “lift every voice and sing.” We honor where we've been while still pushing for where we need to go, and as we remember our journeys, we cannot forget joy. Joy is an act of resistance. Joy is a declaration that even in the face of adversity, culture survives and flourishes; families persevere; and hope persists. That spirit of resilience, leadership and collective strength has shaped generations of Black New Yorkers and continues to move this city forward today. It is now my pleasure to introduce a leader who joins us in honoring that legacy and in reaffirming our collective commitment to continue to move the work forward. Please join me in welcoming our mayor, Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good evening, everyone. It is an honor to welcome you to Gracie Mansion — the people’s house — to commemorate Juneteenth together. Now, I’ll first ask, if you will grant me this, that we say it together: Knicks in?
Crowd: Five!
Mayor Mamdani: Knicks in?
Crowd: Five!
Mayor Mamdani: I wanna say thank you to the many artists, activists and community leaders here today. And I’d like to begin by acknowledging Dr. Pace, your sculpture "Triumph of the Human Spirit" in Foley Square has become a rallying point for so many who dare to imagine a better future. It is a powerful tribute to those long forgotten who lay buried nearby. I want to also thank the senior members of my administration, as well as a number of elected officials that we have here with us.
I want to acknowledge our district attorneys, Alvin Bragg and Darcel Clark, who are here with us. New York State Assembly Member Chantel Jackson, who is here with us. Tamika Mallory, who is here with us. Reverend Stephen Green and Lady Braea, who is here with us. Arva Rice from the New York Urban League. L. Joy Williams from the NAACP. Raymond Codrington from the Weeksville Heritage Center. And Alicia Garza from Black Lives Matter. There are so many more who are here who have blazed a trail for this city and for this country and for this world, and I am so deeply appreciative of you taking the time to join us this evening.
On Juneteenth, as you’ve heard so many say, but any elected official will tell you, we have to say it again ourselves. We commemorate the people of Galveston, Texas, learning of their freedom, as you heard, it was a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. More than 250,000 formerly enslaved Black Texans turned June 19 into a holiday of barbecues, rodeos, singing [and] red punch. When Black people were denied the right to gather in public places for the holiday, they were not deterred. They purchased private tracts of land and turned them into parks where they could gather together. I am struck by the determined joy this holiday insists on. That even after freedom was delayed time and again — even after rights were withheld and opportunity was restricted — Black Americans still found a way to stand together in solidarity, to create a day of celebration.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I am reminded that the story of American progress has never been a linear one. If nothing else, it has been a story of everyday people continuing to reach for our nation’s highest ideals — no matter what adversity lies in the way, no matter how many with power and means strive to keep liberty just out of reach. That story is one that was told here in our city too — in meeting houses and on street corners, in dockyards and on farmland.
It is not lost on me that we stand together in a house that was built in part by enslaved labor. Nor do I forget that some of my predecessors, centuries ago, had enslaved people working for them themselves. Our city may have been relatively early to outlaw the practice of slavery, but we benefitted from it too. It is estimated that approximately 80 percent of Southern cotton passed through New York City.
And yet, I am proud of our city’s legacy as home to some of the most powerful voices in the abolitionist movement — David Ruggles, Louis Napoleon, Sojourner Truth and so many more. New York City was the beating heart of so many daring operations for freedom — a crucial part of the Underground Railroad, a city where people risked their lives daily for others they had never met. I think too of Weeksville.
Decades before the Civil War, stevedore James Weeks bought land in Brooklyn and turned Weeksville into a safe haven for free Black New Yorkers, sustained by their own shops, schools, nursing home, orphanage, newspapers and churches. And I think of the 4,000 Black New Yorkers who were not drafted into the Union Army during the Civil War — who were, in fact, denied the right to serve — but demanded to take part in the fight for freedom anyway.
Many lost their lives so that others might taste the dignity that they had to fight so hard to know. On Juneteenth, yes, we celebrate — and we are reminded of how much work remains to be done so that all may know dignity. You have all heard me speak of the affordability crisis affecting our city, and yes, it affects every single New Yorker. However, we all know that the impact of this crisis has not been borne evenly.
As the old saying goes: “When America catches a cold, Black America gets pneumonia.” Over the past two decades, rising costs have pushed 200,000 Black New Yorkers out of our city. It is meant that we have lost 19 percent of our city’s population of Black children and teenagers over the course of just 10 years. As City Hall works to enact an affordability agenda that lifts financial burdens off the backs of every New Yorker — as we deliver universal childcare, city-run grocery stores where food will be affordable [and] hundreds of thousands of permanently rent-stabilized homes — we do so knowing that for too long, neighborhoods that Black New Yorkers have helped to build like Canarsie, the South Bronx, Howard Beach and so many others have had to choose between being last in line, or not at all.
The work is just beginning. Progress rarely arrives overnight. And yet as we stand together, I cannot help but think of the same few words that you have heard sung this evening and quoted again, the first verse of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”: “Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun. Let us march on ‘til victory is won.”
As we march on together, let our feet be guided by the hope that we so often have to dig deep to find. Let our voices echo with the faith that has steadied those who came before — those who helped build this city and this nation, who found light even among the darkness. And as the sun continues its rise and breaks the horizon, let its warmth be felt not solely by those who have always felt it, but also by those who have been in its darkness. That is the work before us, and so, I am so thankful to all of you for being here. To so many of you for having blazed a trail that I could even dream one day of walking to become the mayor of our city.
And as I think of this day and how it's often characterized as one of celebration, it must also be a day of recognition. A day recognizing all that is still to be done, because as this day celebrates freedom, I cannot help but think of the words of Martin Luther King Jr., decades ago, who asked, “What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger?” So, as we talk about freedom, as we celebrate freedom, we know that we still have to do the work to ensure that that freedom can be felt, that freedom can be used, that freedom can be a reality here in the most expensive city in the United States of America.
So, it is such a pleasure to be in this struggle with all of you, and I thank you for having led this for so long and for having allowed New Yorkers a chance to see what it can look like to live in a city where Black history isn't just something that has been written or is being written, but that it must also be a city where it can continue to be written. Thank you so much. Happy Juneteenth.
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