“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
I want to thank Pastor Martin for inviting us into this House of the Lord.
I also want to acknowledge the distinguished Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for the 2nd District, Bishop Reginald Jackson.
And I want to recognize Mayor Cephas…
Greg Meekins…
And Verlisha Taylor.
We were intentional about making sure we came out to the Eastern Shore for Juneteenth…
Because the history of our state is deeply complicated…
It is both painful and inspiring… Oppressive and uplifting… Devastating and hopeful.
People sometimes forget that Maryland is the northern-most southern state in America.
The Mason-Dixon line runs through our soil. And our state flag is an amalgamation of Confederate and Union symbols.
Maryland is home to some of the most legendary Americans… And Maryland is home to some of the most racist laws in American history.
Maryland is the birthplace of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman… And Maryland is also the birthplace of redlining.
Even the day we celebrate today… Juneteenth… is a contradiction.
We acknowledge the moment when all African Americans were finally notified of their freedom…
Still, that “freedom” is a loose term.
Ending chattel slavery and the transatlantic slave trade was a moment of liberation. But that alone doesn’t define freedom.
Freedom is the ability to own more than you owe…
Freedom is the ability to pass something off to your children besides debt…
Freedom is the ability to feel safe in your own community and your own skin…
Freedom is the ability to have assets that grow and allow you to gain flexibility over time…
Freedom is the ability to know that your children can attend a school that is teaching you how not just to be an employee, but to be an employer…
Liberation is good. But we demand freedom!
So today, on Juneteenth, we honor the spirit and legacy of Juneteenth not just by celebrating a triumph in Galveston, Texas… But also by carrying forward the work of repair.
Today we continue the march to freedom.
On Day One of our administration, we made clear that in this moment, Maryland would refuse to tolerate a widening racial wealth gap…
Because we know the racial wealth gap affects all of us.
It hurts our economy…
It restrains job growth…
It limits our potential as a state. Not just for certain groups, but for every single Marylander.
Over the last two decades, racial inequality has cost the American economy $16 trillion.
Bigotry is expensive!
And if you want a growing economy, make sure it is an inclusive one.
We have a remarkable lineage of scholarship on this issue. We have more data now than ever before on this topic… It’s pains, and the bold paths forward.
The work of repair doesn’t require more analysis…
Because we cannot afford to simply “meet” about the situation before us… and delay progress…
We need action, and we cannot wait. Urgency is the instrument of change.
And our action centers on two main principles: ASSETS and ACCESS.
This month, we announced a new Community Investment Fund, to help entrepreneurs of color access capital to grow their businesses…
We launched Maryland’s UPLIFT program, to boost appraisal values in historically redlined communities…
And just a few days ago, I awarded $4 million in funding to strengthen apprenticeships and job training, to create new pathways to wealth.
Today, on Juneteenth – on Freedom Day – I am proud to announce the next action steps Maryland will take on the work of repair.
First, dealing with ASSETS: I am announcing our first round of “Just Communities” designations in the State of Maryland.
The Just Communities Act was introduced in the Maryland General Assembly last year by our Housing Secretary, Jake Day.
The promise of that bill was simple: Let’s prioritize communities victimized by racially-exclusive, placed-based policies of the past…
Like historic redlining…
And mass incarceration…
And the urban renewal of the 80s and 90s…
And unfair appraisal values – which have been some of the greatest wealth thefts in American history.
Now, it’s not lost on me that there were people who sat in the seat I now sit in… who gleefully implemented policies that broke apart families and destroyed histories and futures.
They took steps that may not have been overtly cloaked in racism… but were still absolutely seeped in it. For that, I am so sorry.
And while the Maryland General Assembly passed an official apology in 2007, the work of repair is about more than acknowledging the past… It’s about taking actions toward a brighter future.
The Just Communities initiative is about identifying where those policies and structures were implemented and who they affected… And then, providing justice to those we were the most unjust to.
Under my authority as governor, I have approved the designation of 419 different communities in Maryland as “Just Communities.”
And I want to be clear: Our Just Communities aren’t centralized in a single part of the state.
The work of repair involves all communities, and it’s going to take us looking at every corner of Maryland to get this right.
These designations include seventeen of our state’s twenty-four jurisdictions.
And today, I am announcing that our Just Communities will be put at the front of the line for upwards of $400 million – to increase assets, home ownership, and home values!
And we are proud that one of our first Just Communities is right here in Cambridge, Maryland!
This is one of the most aggressive initiatives in our state's history to address our racial wealth gap. Because the work of repair is not in the future. The work to repair is now.
Today’s second announcement will focus on access.
Maryland still locks up more Black men and boys than any other state in the nation.
Many have now served their time, but despite no longer being imprisoned, can’t escape the shackles of imprisonment – including for actions that are now completely legal.
We need to end this myth that every sentence is a life sentence.
Last year, I pardoned 175,000 cannabis possession and paraphernalia convictions.
Today, I will once again use my constitutional powers to sign an additional 7,000 pardons for similar convictions.
So at a time when Donald Trump is unapologetically divesting from Black and underserved communities… And dismantling minority business programs… And banning books about our history…. We are going to unapologetically prove there’s a better way.
It’s why I signed legislation banning the banning of books…
It’s why we invested $1.3 billion for HBCUs…
It’s why we delivered more than $800 million in State Contracts to Black-owned businesses…
It’s why we’ve helped thousands of Black Marylanders pursue homeownership.
And together, we are going to continue the work of repair with action that delivers results.
This is a moment when we celebrate the ancestors…
The trailblazers…
The ones who had high hopes for us…
This is also the moment when we take the baton and carry forward their unfinished work.
“Facing the rising sun of our new day begun/ Let us march on until victory is won.”
So let’s keep partnering…
Let’s keep delivering…
Let’s keep doing the work of repair…..
And let’s leave no one behind.