Juneteenth, 2024
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is a federal holiday to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. It was on June 19th, 1865 when General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War.
As Free Methodists, who stood against the evils of slavery then and who continue to stand for freedom today, we celebrate this moment in our national history.
A Letter from Pastor Louis
I was born in Brooklyn, NY. My first grade education was in Camden, NJ where my fellow students were Native Americans, African Americans, and white. My teacher was African American. I will respect that woman till the end of my days!
All of those terms I just mentioned I learned later as I grew up and while living in Puerto Rico. I knew there were differences, but at home my dad was lighter than my mom and my mom a little darker than me--I lived with diversity at home. At school, all I saw and related to were people, with all the inevitable differences that people have, and in my neighborhood there were a variety of people, colors, and languages. The Italian Maria and her teenage son took care of me and fed me when my mom was in the hospital having my baby brother. I played in the streets with all kinds of people; it was fun. They were kids, people, like me. All different. All living life together.
I learned about racism while in Puerto Rico. My granny aunt had a book in Spanish written by Martin Luther King, Jr. She spoke highly of MLK and told me the story of his struggle to seek justice for the African American people. Even though Juneteenth had happened, the official law emancipating slaves in the U.S., there were still ingrained injustices and prejudices against his people, against our people. The book’s title was Why We Can’t Wait. In it, MLK explains why justice should not be delayed, as just waiting will only make it occur drop by drop. A lot of Christian leaders opposed MLK and his movement, trying to make the end to unfair treatment of Black people in the United States happen slowly to avoid discomfort for those who were not affected by racism, but continuing the pain of the injustices of millions of people in our midst. I was a kid. I read the book and learned that the world was not always safe, and that even Christians had a hard time living in it. Not everybody who smiles is a friend. Not everybody who smiles, cares.
We celebrate Juneteenth because it is part of our history, because racism is still a problem in our society, and because the least we can do as Christians is to make a gesture of solidarity, pray, and remember Juneteenth. Perhaps one day we can find peace in our nation through Christ's life, making us all one. In the meantime, we celebrate Juneteenth!
From Louis E. Colón