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You are reading this in July, the month Americans celebrate our independence from England and the injustice our ancestors suffered as subjects of the British monarchy.

However, because of how news is delivered, I am writing this the week of Juneteenth.  For those fuzzy on what Juneteenth represents—especially to the Black community, I offer this brief history: Slavery as an institution in America dates back to 1619, when the first Africans were delivered to Jamestown, in the colony which would come to be known as the state of Virginia. Almost 250 years passed, in which Africans were held in chattel slavery, before President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. This declared all enslaved persons held in the Confederate states were free.  Juneteenth doesn’t celebrate that moment, though, but one two and a half years later, June 19th, 1865. This,  because of how news is delivered, is when the last 250,000 enslaved persons in Texas finally learned of the  proclamation that they were officially free men and women.

The Black community has celebrated Juneteenth since the beginning, and it finally became an official federal holiday in January 2021.  What they wouldn’t have given for the internet, right? Maybe that would have helped. Maybe not.

Though today we have 24-hour news (and cellphones, and the internet), because of how news is delivered, the promise of America has still not been fulfilled for all its citizens. Arguments (and vitriol) have ensued around initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion. Many of us are no more sympathetic towards others than King George III was to the colonists. 

I am very heartened by the report back from this year’s annual conference. That the UMC supports these  initiatives. Our church says, “All are welcome.” How does this look in practice? How do we, as Christians, change the narrative around acceptance and reconciliation?

In my conversations. In my actions. I will go back to the Gospel. The Good News.  

Brenda Conry