Celebrating Juneteenth

In this episode of the Midtown Church podcast, Benjamin Ford joins to talk about the meaning of Juneteenth and the significance of celebrating it.

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. The origin of the Holiday comes from June 19, 1865 when Texas slaves finally received the news that they had been liberated, a full two years after the emancipation proclamation.

Three reasons Juneteenth should be a national holiday; (1) it highlights freedom in the US, (2) it commemorates a major event in US History, and (3) it acknowledges both how far we’ve come as a country and how far we have to go (adapted from Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise).

“To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history.” – Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Benjamin recommends reading Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison.

Alex recommends two books; One Blood by John Perkins and The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby.