After the long COVID-19 lockdown, many of us are feeling a yearning to get out of the house. As restrictions loosen, businesses are reopening, including our area museums. This summer is a great opportunity to learn more about our local history. By understanding the history and culture of our city, we will be better equipped to bring God's healing and reconciliation to our neighborhoods and our region. Over the next few newsletters, we'll share some ideas of places to visit around the region. This installment will focus on Seattle.
by Heather Hedlund
The Fourth of July, Independence Day, is a day of celebration for the United States. In 1776, Congress made this bold statement in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." But those who aren't experiencing these freedoms have a hard time celebrating. On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered an address to an audience of abolitionists in honor of Independence Day. His address, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" has become famous as an anti-slavery oration, but to his audience that day, it was probably challenging to hear.
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.
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