EMANICIPATION: The Promise We Seek, Part 3

#VRABlackHistory #WeWillToo

How Our Ancestors Fought Back and #WeWillToo

• January 7th article, Part 1: The First Celebrations of Juneteenth and How It Has Been Used to Organize for Voting Rights

• Yesterday’s article, Part 2: Why Birthright Citizenship, now under attack by President Trump, Was Enshrined in the 14th Amendment (1868)

• Today’s Article, February 9th, Part 3: The 15th Amendment (1869)

“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed.

You can lose it.”

– Rep. John Lewis, 2020

e·man·ci·pa·tion

[əˌmansəˈpāSHən]

noun

• the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation:
• “the emancipation of feminist ideas”

Similar: freeing; liberation; liberating; release; releasing

• the freeing of someone from slavery:
• “the early struggle for emancipation from slavery””

(Source: Oxford Languages)

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Reporting by: Caitlyn Arnwine (formerly Caitlyn Cobb). This article on the 15th Amendment was originally written in 2017, and updated in 2018, and reformatted and updated in 2025. The summary written by Barbara Arnwine. Sources are cited throughout the article. For more information on this series, see below the source list.

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