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Christian Leaders Reflect on Juneteenth 2022 and the Work There Still Is To Do

Last year, Tisby cautioned that some would use Juneteenth’s status as a federal holiday as an opportunity to downplay or perpetuate the racial brokenness that still exists in our country. This is a concern that Gilliard also mentioned in his thread. “Many Black folks feared this becoming a national holiday [because] they didn’t want us to think we’ve arrived!” he said.

Gilliard, author of “Subversive Witness,” had several challenges for his followers regarding how to respond well to Juneteenth. “Juneteenth offers churches & seminaries an opportunity to confess their sins, specifically naming their role & complicity in this oppressive history,” he said. “It affords them an opportunity to lament, denounce, & repent of the ways too many Christian institutions continue to emboldened [sic] too many members of the Body to continue to suppress the truth today (just as Christians who condoned and profited off of slavery did when they [intentionally] suppressed the news of Black freedom from January 1, 1863 – June 19, 1865).”

Gilliard challenged his followers with the following questions: 

    1. What truth may you need to acknowledge? 
    2. What confession do you, your church, institution, or family need to engage in?
    3. What lies or mythologies do you need to let go of?
    4. What antiblackness do you need to confront in your life &/or faith community?

In an Instagram post in honor of Juneteenth, Jackie Hill Perry, author of “Gay Girl, Good God” and “Holier Than Thou,” included a quote from author Casey Gerald that said: 

Instead of holding our breath, let us find the freshest air we can find and breathe it as deeply as we can, with joy. Let us grieve for our forebears and feel deep gratitude as we think of the enormous price our people paid so we could be free. Let us remember that despite the degradation of slavery, they lived fully human lives, too. They laughed. They loved. They dreamed.