Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on June 19 in the United States. The day commemorates the day in 1865 when Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people in Texas were free, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The celebration of Juneteenth has roots in African American communities and has been observed since the late 1800s. It is a day to remember and honor the struggles and sacrifices of African Americans in their continued fight for freedom and equality.
Check out one of the many Juneteenth celebrations happening in our community!
- Bellevue: Juneteenth Community Celebration, Saturday, June 13, 11:00 – 5:30pm, Crossroads Park
- Kirkland: Eastside Honoring Juneteenth, Saturday, June 13, noon – 4:00pm, Juanita High School
- Mercer Island: Juneteenth Community Celebration, Thursday, June 19, noon – 3:00pm, Mercerdale Park
- Seattle: Juneteenth Festival, Thursday, June 19, noon – 8:00pm, Jimi Hendrix Park
- Seattle: Juneteenth Worship Service, Thursday, June 19, 7:00pm, Bethany Green Lake Chapel
- Tacoma: Juneteenth Celebration, Thursday, June 19, noon – 6:00 pm, Lemay Car Museum Haub Family Field
Justin Giboney on YouTubeLast month, several members of the J&RR team trekked across the bridge to Bethany Community Church for their annual Ministry of Racial Justice and Reconciliation Speaker Event. This year featured Justin Giboney, the founder and president of the AND Campaign, an organization dedicated to helping Christians offer a more faithful public witness and engagement.
Giboney spoke about what it looks like to be a peacemaker today in the public square in our public faith, drawing from his new book Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around. Noting that our current environment feels very polarized, he pointed out that the context that Jesus lived in was also very polarized. Living under Roman occupation, different groups within Jesus' Jewish community responded to that tension in different ways. Some responded with violence and terrorism, some with assimilation, and others used the occupation to maintain power within their own community.
But Jesus doesn't join any of these groups. He does something completely different. He changes how we see ourselves and how we see our enemies. Giboney points out, "He even goes so far as to say crazy things like love your enemy." To be peacemakers in this moment, we start with changing how we see ourselves and changing how we see others, especially our opposition. He notes that there are important debates to be had about issues in our country, but that how these debates happen and how we treat people who disagree with us when they happen is what matters most.
Giboney defines our public witness as "a testimony to society about what we believe is good and true and what is false, immoral, and unjust. It tells others what we value, what we represent, and who we serve." He also notes that our public witness doesn't belong to us, it belongs to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "We are ambassadors of Christ as though God were making his appeal through us." Giboney challenges us to take that verse seriously and consider how it might change how we interact with others.
Using the Black Church in the Civil Rights Movement as an example, Giboney laid out four ways that their public witness was distinctive. They connected the spiritual to the sociopolitical. They sang gospel hymns as they marched as a discipline to remind them who they were supposed to be and what Christian principles they needed to stand by. They upheld social justice AND moral order. A society that is morally disordered will not have justice, and an ordered society will not be moral without justice. Giboney said, "You can lean left or lean right, but you have to have a prophetic distance to be able to critique both sides." They acknowledged the potential of wickedness not just in their opponents, but also in themselves.
When we have disagreements, it should look different in a way that points people to Christ. "We should always look at people and value people not just based on their behavior at the moment, but who they are and whose image they were made in." They chose moral imagination over contempt and cynicism. "Moral imagination is the ability to see what ought to be and what will be based on God's character and God's promises."
We invite you to watch Giboney's whole talk as well as the panel discussion that followed:
Peacemaking and Public Faith: A Conversation with Justin Giboney
Video: Understanding the SCOTUS Attack on Black Voting Rights. Jemar Tisby interview. https://timwhitakerspeaks.substack.com/
p/understanding-the-scotus-attack-on
Article: ABC News legal contributor, James Sample gives a concise explanation of the recent Supreme Court decision
https://abcnews.com/Politics/5-things-supreme-
courts-landmark-decision-voting-rights/story?id=131396119
By Nancy Gibson
Last fall, my husband Greg and I set out on a cross-country road trip in our campervan. With the help of ChatGPT, Greg drafted an itinerary. In the fall, we slowly worked our way to San Antonio. We flew home over the holidays, then flew back in January to resume our journey.
The second half took us to Key West and up to North Carolina before heading back west. In addition to National Parks and other key points of interest, I wanted to be sure to visit sites related to racial justice and civil rights.
Looking for things to do this spring and summer? Explore the Chinatown-International District with the Wing Luke Museum!
Find the full calendar of tours and register at Tour Calendar — Wing Luke Museum. Tours include admission to the museum.
The Justice & Racial Reconciliation Team was formed in 2016. If J&RR is to be a vibrant part of BelPres for the next ten years we need Leaders. The goal is to have three to four members of the Leadership Team, each serving a three year term, with staggered term ending dates. We need both continuity and fresh voices.
Would you like to get more involved in our local community and gain skills in group facilitation, cultural competency, and best practices for participatory engagement? Apply to join the City of Bellevue's Cultural Conversations Facilitator Class! Find out more and apply here. Applications are due on April 12. This is a great way to move from learning into action!
By Heather Hedlund
When the BelPres Justice & Racial Reconciliation Team formed in 2016, one of our first activities was a book discussion of Let Justice Roll Down by John Perkins. This book has set the tone for the work we've been doing ever since. Dr. Perkins went home to Jesus on March 13, 2026, at the age of 95. As I've been reflecting on his legacy, I'd like to share some of the reasons his life and work have been so important to me.
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