In his book How the Word Is Passed, Clint Smith travels to Galveston Island, the origin of the Juneteenth holiday, to observe their annual celebration. He watches as a local man, dressed as Union General Gordon Granger, reads the proclamation from June 19, 1865, declaring the end of slavery. Smith writes,
"All slaves are free. The four words circled the room like birds that had been separated from their flock. I watched people's faces as Stephen said these words. Some closed their eyes. Some were physically shaking. Some clasped hands with the person next to them. Some simply smiled, soaking in the words that their ancestors may have heard more than a century and a half ago. Being in this place, standing on the same small island where the freedom of a quarter million people was proclaimed, I felt the history pulse through my body."
We invite you to explore the history, culture, and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans in our region and our nation.
By William Starks
I've been hearing a lot of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or D.E.I., initiatives lately. Some people and organizations confuse or equate equity with equality. Equity and equality are two different things.
Equity is so much more than equality. Equality, diversity, and inclusion are all good pursuits and goals, but they only really treat the symptoms of the racial issues we face. Laws can be put in place to address equality (equal rights), diversity (desegregation), and inclusion (voting rights), but black Americans and other people of color are still treated like unwanted guests in someone else's house.
Celebrate Women's History Month by getting to know Civil Rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer.
Fannie Lou Hamer was born on October 6, 1917, in Mississippi, to a family of sharecroppers. She was the youngest of twenty children, and she started picking cotton at age 6. Fannie Lou loved reading and learning, but she had to leave school at age 12 to help support the family. Because of her academic skills, as an adult she worked as time and record keeper on the plantation where she sharecropped. In this position, she saw that the owner was using unfair scales to cheat her fellow workers. Whenever possible, she substituted her own fair scale to weigh the cotton brought in. She met and married her husband on this same plantation.
On February 4, 2022, beloved children's artist and writer Ashley Bryan died at the age of 98. As a child growing up in the Bronx, Ashley loved to draw, and his teachers encouraged his gift. When high school came to a close, his teachers helped him to assemble a portfolio and apply for a scholarship to an art school.
He was very discouraged when he was rejected for scholarships because he was black, despite an outstanding portfolio. Then he discovered that Cooper Union had a blind application process, and he was awarded a full scholarship.
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How did faith in Jesus embolden three African Americans in their quest for freedom? Take ten minutes to watch this animated series and learn how The Reader, The Servant, and The Hymnist lived out their faith. Can you guess who they are before the end of the video?
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One of the books most highly recommended by the J&RR Team is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, the founder of Equal Justice Initiative. Founded in 1989, EJI is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. As part of EJI's work to educate the public, they've produced some excellent reports. They've just released their most recent report: Race and the Jury – Illegal Discrimination in Jury Selection.
I've been thinking about the word restoration a lot lately. It's a word that brings to mind healing, repair, making things right, and wholeness. As we pursue racial justice and reconciliation, what would it look like to put our focus on the idea of restoration?
The word restoration first jumped out at me during a sermon Pastor Scott Dudley preached on May 16. He said, "God's kind of justice is always about restoration, not retribution and revenge… restoration of what was lost or stolen or broken or hurt or wounded for individuals, but also for entire communities." What a beautiful way to think about justice!
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