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In a moving speech at the Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony at City Hall, New York City Mayor Eric Adams invoked the pain, resilience, and pride of African American history, declaring, “I’m American — but never forget I’m African.” His remarks came as part of the city’s official recognition of Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Standing alongside city leaders and community members, Adams reflected on his own family’s journey from slavery to City Hall, saying, “The mere fact that we are here, still able to communicate in a civilized fashion, talks about our resilience.”

The mayor acknowledged the horrors endured by enslaved Africans, noting: “Our ancestors stood in dungeons for years, many of them having to stand in their own ways, not seeing the sunlight at all… Cabin doors were kicked in. Women and children were raped and sodomized. They delivered their babies in the fields, only to go back and have to continue to work from sun up to sun down.”

Adams emphasized that the legacy of African Americans is not solely rooted in slavery, but also in brilliance and civilization. “We had great institutions like Timbuktu and others. They want to rewrite our contribution not only to America, but to civilization.”

He celebrated the symbolism of raising the Juneteenth flag, highlighting that it took 110 mayors before the milestone was reached: “We were the first administration to have that flag raised… Feats away from where our ancestors were sold into slavery, now they see their offspring being the mayor to allow this flag to be raised.”

But he stressed that substance matters more than symbolism. “The symbolism is raising the flag. But what about the substance? The substance is being able to have the second African American to be the chief of staff of the City of New York… First Panamanian, Trinidadian to be a deputy mayor… First Filipino to be a deputy mayor… First, first, first, first, first,” he said, listing a diverse array of firsts under his administration.

Adams also spoke about preserving cultural identity in America. “I’m not American African. A Chinese is not American Chinese… America says you put your country first. You hold on to your culture. You hold on to what you brought and you bring it to the common denominator of America.”

With emotional gravity, the mayor underscored the ongoing need for spiritual and emotional liberation: “Chains are no longer on our ankles and on our hands, but the mental slavery is real… My goal is not to be physically free, but my goal is to be spiritually and emotionally free.”

He concluded with a powerful reminder: “This flag is being lifted because in 1863 when slavery ended… the reality was not known [in Texas] until 1865… Now we must ensure that we don’t desecrate the lives of our ancestors… Then we lift up our ancestors and their contribution.”

“Happy Juneteenth Day,” he declared, as the red, black, and green colors of the Juneteenth flag soared above City Hall — a banner of remembrance, resistance, and renewal.