Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.\
This week, Congress passed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday and the bill was signed into law on Thursday. Since June 19th falls on a Saturday this year, today marks the first time that federal employees will enjoy a day off in honor of Juneteenth National Independence Day!
The end of May marked important anniversaries in the history of racial injustice. May 25 marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by officer Derek Chauvin. May 31 and June 1 marked the hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre. Below are some resources to help you reflect on these events and learn more.
The month of May is officially designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We invite you to explore some local history through the University of Washington Libraries South Asian Oral History Project (SAOHP). This project records pan-South Asian immigrant experiences in the Pacific Northwest.
The end of May marked important anniversaries in the history of racial injustice. May 25 marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by officer Derek Chauvin. May 31 and June 1 marked the hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre. Below are some resources to help you reflect on these events and learn more.
The month of May is officially designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The Library of Congress explains, "The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants."
We invite you to learn more about the many contributions of the AAPI community with the following resources.
Urban Impact holds a monthly conversation on racial reconciliation on the first Thursday of every month. Anthony Ballard, Discipleship Associate for Justice and Reconciliation at BelPres, was featured on a panel at the March meeting. You can watch the recording at March 4 Wrestling with Reconciliation. If you'd like to attend future events, you can find information at Wrestling with Reconciliation — Urban Impact Seattle.
By Heather Hedlund
Paul often compared the Christian life to running a race. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 he says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." As we've learned in the last few months, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. This is the race he has assigned us to run, and it's not a sprint, it's a life-long relay.
Have you ever had someone apologize to you, but you weren't sure they really meant it? Was that apology healing for you, or did it leave you angry and confused? I think John the Baptist may have felt this way when the crowds came out to be baptized by him. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming, he said, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:7-8) I think he was skeptical of the sincerity of their repentance. He challenged them to follow up their statement of repentance with actions that proved they meant what they said. We show the sincerity of our repentance when we work to fix what's broken.
Page 4 of 9