June 19: Juneteenth Holiday

Today’s national holiday is a commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. Despite President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation going into effect on Jan. 1, 1863, it could not be implemented in the states still under Confederate control, and enforcement of the proclamation relied upon the advance of Union troops. It wasn’t until Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, on June 19, 1865, that more than 250,000 enslaved African Americans were freed by executive decree. Along with today’s commemoration, we also honor all of those who have, and continue to, advocate for freedom in our land.

For ongoing reflection: Many African Americans in our present day suffer from the legacy of slavery’s shameful part in this country’s history. The violence in our neighborhoods, the endemic poverty suffered by many, and the lack of adequate education, housing, and job opportunities are all modern manifestations of a continued lack of freedom for Black people in America. Venerable Augustus Tolton, pray for us.

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From the Denver Catholic newspaper on the first African American priest in the United States:

https://www.denvercatholic.org/juneteenth-and-the-life-of-the-first-black-american-catholic-priest