We are more often familiar with the civil rights movement than with Juneteenth, In 1865, the final shackle was broken in a small island town of Galveston, Texas, where African Americans finally received the news that they were free after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Lincoln two years earlier. Juneteenth is a celebration of liberation and freedom for all. I joyfully echo the words from Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (3:28). For in God’s kingdom, we are all a part of the beautiful tapestry of the church, which consists of various hues, shapes, sizes, and rough edges.
If we are called to pick up where Jesus left off and walk in his footsteps, how can we not celebrate the kaleidoscopes of colors within one another? Juneteenth is an opportunity to celebrate and continue to stand with one another and speak out for justice and equality.
This message is excerpted from “Litany of freedom: Juneteenth colorful family” by Ralen M. Robinson from the June 17, 2023, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is Juneteenth.
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