MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR
Juneteenth is as sacred to Black Americans as the Passover was to early Black people led by Moses during the Exodus. It is a major event in the never-ending process of liberating our people.
It is a time to look back so we can leap forward. Contemporary challenges demand we organize, strategize, and mobilize. Therefore, our focus is on education, civil rights, voter registration and COVID -19 vaccinations.
Furthermore, we need to tell our story so the adversaries cannot continue to suppress our story and rob us of our glory. Our ensuing generations need to know their struggle form day-to-day resistance, advocacy, and slave rebellions. They need to know about the radical abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and people of goodwill. In addition, we need to remember the more than two hundred of the Black soldiers who fought valiantly to save Abraham Lincoln so that he could save this nation.
As we gather to honor Black freedom and Black resistance, let’s educate while we celebrate.
Keep the Faith,
Reverend Dr. Randy B. Kelley
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The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth
On “Freedom's Eve," or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas.
The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation, and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200 plus years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.
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Juneteenth marks our country's second Independence Day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.
The historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a community space where this spirit of hope lives on. A place where historical events like Juneteenth are shared and new stories with equal urgency are told.