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“Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S.; let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder, and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on the earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right of citizenship in the United States.” - Frederick Douglass, “Address for the Promotion of Colored Enlistments, delivered at a mass meeting in Philadelphia, July 6, 1863.” Following the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called for the raising of African American regiments. Massachusetts Governor John Andrew quickly answered Lincoln’s call and began forming the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first Black regiments to fight in the Civil War. Black men from across the city, state, country, and even other nations, traveled to Boston to join this historic regiment, some of them responding to recruitment efforts of such luminaries as Frederick Douglass. Through their heroic, yet tragic, assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina in July 1863, the 54th helped inspire the enlistment of more than 180,000 Black men…a boost in morale and manpower that Lincoln recognized as essential to the victory of the United States and the destruction of slavery throughout the country. Source: https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/a-brave-black-regiment.htm

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment is best known for its service leading the failed Union assault on Battery Wagner, a Confederate earthwork fortification on Morris Island, on July 18, 1863. This was one of the first major actions in which African American soldiers fought for the Union in the American Civil War. The courage of the soldiers in the 54th convinced many politicians and Army officers of their value, prompting the further enlistment of black soldiers. On July 24, Gov. Baker signed a bill designating Juneteenth (June 19th) as an annual state holiday in Massachusetts. In doing so, Baker stated that this designation would help "recognize the continued need to ensure racial freedom and equality." This designation also creates new obligations for many retail employers in Massachusetts by adding Juneteenth to the list of holidays covered by the Blue Laws. Remembering the 54th Massachusetts Augustus Saint-Gauden’s high-relief bronze monument on Boston Common in downtown Boston immortalized Colonel Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts. The bas-relief was unv eiled in 1897 and is now part of Boston African American National Historic Site. Commissioned by a group of private citizens, Saint-Gaudens first envisioned a lone equestrian statue of Colonel Shaw. Shaw's family encouraged Saint-Gaudens to take a different approach, and the resulting work commemorated not only the regiment's famed colonel but also the soldiers he commanded, a revolutionary concept for the time period. Source: https://www.nps.gov/articles/54th-massachusetts-regiment.htm

The Notable Roxburian Society, is an organization that works to preserve and promote academic excellence & address critical needs of students and academic institutions that enable young people to make positive life decisions, in addition to addressing various other needs of diverse cultural communities. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. An African American church leader and the son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he led targeted, nonviolent resistance against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination. King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. #notableroxburiansociety #visitnubiansquare #visitroxburyma #blackhistory #history #historicalsociety #roxburyma #tourism #massjuneteenthcouncil #learning #juneteenth #review #college Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.