Yet this year our celebrations are tinged with sorrow. Our prayers are with the nine members of the Mother Emanuel community nine members of our American family whose God given rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness were so cruelly snatched away. Our hearts go out to their families their friends and the entire city of Charleston.
We don t have to look far to see that racism and bigotry hate and intolerance are still all too alive in our world. Just as the slaves of Galveston knew that emancipation is only the first step toward true freedom just as those who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years ago knew their march was far from finished our work remains undone. For as long as people still hate each other for nothing more than the color of their skin and so long as it remains far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun we cannot honestly say that our country is living up to its highest ideals. But Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. Instead it s a celebration of progress. It s an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history things do get better. America can change.
So no matter our color or our creed no matter where we come from or who we love today is a day to find joy in the face of sorrow to count our blessings and hold the ones we love a little closer. And tomorrow is a day to keep marching.
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