This Tuesday, June 19, 2007, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will commemorate Juneteenth by saluting legendary Chicago singer Mavis Staples and declaring Tuesday, June 19 “Mavis Staples Day” throughout the Land of Lincoln. Ms. Staples will join the Lt. Governor and sing a short selection from her new album, We’ll Never Turn Back.

With a musical legacy that spans more than fifty years, Mavis Staples is known as one of the world’s greatest soul and gospel singers. A national treasure, Mavis Staples sang “freedom songs” in the late ‘50s and ‘60s with the legendary Staple Singers – the family group that included her father Roebuck “Pops” Staples, brother Pervis, and sisters Yvonne and Cleotha.

Joining the civil rights movement after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preach in Montgomery, Alabama, the Staple Singers were integral to the movement, giving voice to the fight against racial inequality. The first song they wrote, “March Up Freedom’s Highway,” was for the march from Selma to Montgomery. According to Ms. Staples, “Why (Am I Treated So Bad),” a song about the Little Rock Nine – the nine Black students who made history by integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas –  was Dr. King’s favorite song, often requesting the Staple Singers sing that song before he spoke.

Although she enjoyed great success as a member of the Staple Singers, Mavis Staples went on to make her own mark as a solo artist, recording eight solo projects. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll, Mavis Staples has carved a music legacy centered around the cause of freedom and social protest.

“For decades, Mavis Staples has been singing her heart out, using her extraordinary gift to bear witness to racial inequality and injustice,” Quinn said.  “As we commemorate Juneteenth, it is most appropriate to honor Mavis Staples for her courageous participation in the civil rights movement and for her continuing artistry, which inspires new generations to love music and freedom.”

June 19, known as Juneteenth or National Freedom Day, is the anniversary of the official announcement of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to enslaved African-Americans in Texas.  On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and the slaves were now free—two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on January 1, 1863. Many states, including Illinois, observe Juneteenth.