A Juneteenth Letter to the Community
My Fellow Residents of Mount Vernon,
Today, as we gather to commemorate Juneteenth, we celebrate a day that forever reminds us that freedom delayed is still worth fighting for, that justice requires perseverance, and that democracy is strengthened when ordinary people summon extraordinary courage.
Juneteenth is not simply a celebration of emancipation. It is a reminder that freedom is more than a destination; it is a responsibility. And as our nation prepares to commemorate America’s 250th Anniversary, we are invited into another moment of reflection.
We have an opportunity to celebrate our triumphs, honestly acknowledge our failures, and recommit ourselves to the unfinished work of creating “A More Perfect Union.”
Both Juneteenth and America 250 ask us the same profound question:
What kind of community and nation are we choosing to become?
Here in Mount Vernon, I believe that question becomes even more personal:
What kind of ancestors will we be?
Not perfect.
Not flawless.
But Good Enough Ancestors. People who, despite the noise around them, chose responsibility over reaction, collaboration over conflict, dignity over contempt, and progress over perfection.
Because here is a truth I have learned in public service:
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
If we wait for perfect agreement, perfect leadership, perfect circumstances, or perfect politics, we will never move forward. And Mount Vernon cannot afford to stand still.
We Are Living in Extraordinary Times
Not because we disagree, communities have always disagreed. Democracy was designed for disagreement.
What is different today is how we disagree.
Too often, our public conversations have become performances instead of opportunities for progress.
Instead of asking, “How do we solve this challenge?” we ask, “How do we win this battle?”
We are living in a moment where noise is loud, division is profitable, and outrage is easy.
Social media rewards outrage.
Politics often rewards conflict.
Algorithms reward anger.
But communities suffer under it.
Communities thrive through healthy relationships.
Communities thrive through trust.
Communities thrive when people choose to build rather than destroy.
As author Brook Williams writes in Performative Outrage, outrage has become a kind of public performance amplified by technology and rewarded by attention. And when the loudest voice wins the moment, the community loses.
This cycle is exhausting us. It is eroding trust. It is making neighbors suspicious of one another. And it is teaching our children that contempt is normal.
But that is not who we are.
Mount Vernon has always been a city of resilience!!! A city of immigrants, dreamers, families, entrepreneurs, artists, educators, leaders, and people of faith. We have overcome challenges before. Our greatest strength has never been that we think alike; it has always been that we move forward together despite our differences. That spirit is worth protecting.
As your Mayor, I have worked every day to stay above the political fray. I have not always succeeded. There have been days when I struggled to remain above the noise. There have been moments when criticism, misinformation, polarization, vitriol, and personal attacks tested my patience, resolve, and, on certain days, even my faith.
Like anyone who serves, there have been moments when I wanted to answer anger with anger. But leadership is not measured by never stumbling. It is measured by whether we return again and again to our highest values. So today, I recommit myself to those values. I understand that accountability matters, debate matters, and disagreement matters.
But there is a profound difference between accountability and contempt.
One seeks improvement. The other seeks destruction.
Mount Vernon deserves the first, not the second. I remain committed to sitting down with anyone who genuinely wants to dismantle the walls and gaps that divide us politically, by neighborhood, generation, socioeconomics, racially, and personally.
I know we do not have to agree on everything to work on something together.
On a recent work trip to Madrid, I learned a new concept that I have quickly integrated into my guiding principles and my understanding of leadership. That is Becoming A Good Enough Ancestor.
Being a Good Enough Ancestor asks us to think beyond today’s victories and toward tomorrow’s inheritance.
What kind of city are we leaving behind?
What habits are we teaching?
What institutions are we strengthening?
What relationships are we preserving?
The greatest leaders are often not the loudest. They are the gardeners planting trees whose shade they may never sit under, repairing systems they may never receive credit for saving, and strengthening communities whose greatest successes will belong to generations they will never meet. That is stewardship. And stewardship, not spectacle, transforms communities.
The Mount Vernon our children inherit is being shaped by daily choices:
Every conversation.
Every post.
Every meeting.
Every election.
Every disagreement.
Every act of kindness.
Every rumor we refuse to spread.
Every truth we choose to tell.
Every bridge we choose to build.
Each one expands trust or diminishes it.
Contempt divides. Dignity heals.
Leadership is not only what we decide, but it is the emotional climate we all create.
So today, I ask every resident to join in a new covenant:
Let us choose truth over noise.
Let us choose partnership over polarization.
Let us choose solutions over spectacle.
Let us interrupt the cycle of outrage.
When misinformation appears, respond with facts instead of fury.
When disagreement arises, ask questions before assumptions.
When criticism is necessary, make it constructive.
When someone grows, celebrate it.
When emotions run high, remember we still have to live together.
We will still worship together.
We will still educate our children together.
We will still govern together.
So let us choose:
Listening before judging.
Verifying before sharing.
Collaborating before criticizing.
Building before blaming.
Because the future of Mount Vernon will not be determined by who shouts the loudest but by who shows up with integrity, humility, and purpose.
To our residents: your voice matters, and so does your responsibility.
To our public servants: your authority matters, and so does your integrity.
To our young people: your future matters, and we are building it with you.
As we celebrate Juneteenth and prepare for America’s 250th anniversary, let Mount Vernon become an example of what is possible when dignity is chosen over division.
Freedom is sustained not only by rights, but by responsibilities.
Democracy depends not only on elections, but on empathy.
Justice requires not only conviction, but compassion.
History will remember this generation.
The question is not whether we faced division; it is how we responded to it. Will our children inherit institutions weakened by outrage?
Or strengthened by collaboration? Will they remember us for the arguments we won?
Or the community we rebuilt together?
I choose dignity.
I choose relationships over rhetoric.
I choose solutions over spectacle.
I choose hope over cynicism.
I am confident that the future does not belong to those who generate the most outrage; it belongs to those who generate the most hope
So let it be said of Mount Vernon:
When anger was easier than understanding, we chose dignity.
When division seemed inevitable, we chose community.
When cynicism rose, we chose hope.
We may never build a perfect city, but greatness has never required perfection.
It requires ordinary people making extraordinary choices day after day, block after block, generation after generation.
Together, let us become good enough ancestors.
Together, let us build the Mount Vernon our children deserve.
May God continue to bless each of you, bless the City of Mount Vernon, and bless the United States of America as we journey toward our 250th year, ever striving to become a more perfect Union.
With gratitude, hope, and love,
Mayor Shawyn Patterson
City of Mount Vernon, NY
