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Happy Juneteenth
May we all continue the struggle to end slavery
Today is the day Americans observe the anniversary of the last major announcement of the end of slavery during the Civil War.
Though Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, not all enslaved persons in the South received word of their freedom. There was no radio, television, or Internet in 1863. And plantation owners weren’t exactly motivated to pass on this news to those people they held in chains.
It took the advance of the Union Army against the declining (and ultimately defeated) Confederacy to bring the news of freedom to all states in the United States. The final major declaration of freedom came on June 19, 1865, when U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger brought enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to Texas at the end of the American Civil War.
June 19 (aka “Juneteenth”), 1865 signaled the end of slavery in the United States — something that would be confirmed with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in December of that year.
Unfortunately, slavery continues in our world today — and even in the United States (albeit illegally). The United Nations estimates approximately 50 million people are held in slavery in the world today.
On this Juneteenth, I extend to all of you my best wishes and my hope that we will all continue the fight for freedom and equality — for all people in all places — until slavery is fully eradicated and all God’s children can breathe free.
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