Lowry for Indiana

Happy Father’s Day! Being a dad has been my favorite part of this wonderful life.

And it’s been great training for politicians. If you wonder how I am able to handle all the hateful things said to me online, it’s because that’s nothing compared to having four teenagers at the same time.

Juneteenth hits different for me.

My husband is Black. Our three kids are Black. Which means freedom, real freedom, the kind that was delayed, denied, and has been fought for every generation since, is not abstract to me. It lives in my home. It shows up in my children’s faces every single morning.

As a Latina woman, I was raised knowing that liberation has never belonged to just one community. Our histories are braided together. The struggles, the resilience, the hope. Our futures are too.

Juneteenth is a celebration. But it is also a reckoning and a responsibility. A reminder that freedom declared is not always freedom delivered. And that the work of building a community where every family can live, raise their children, and thrive with dignity is never finished.

Today we celebrate. We remember. We recommit.

To every Black family in our community: your history is honored here. Your future matters here.

Feliz Juneteenth. Happy Juneteenth.