| Church Within A Church Movement

photo of General Order No. 3 of June 19, 1865

June 19, 1865 – two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation – enslaved people in Texas were informed that they were now “free.”

Vernice and family members sitting together and smiling on steps of house

Rev. Vernice Thorn

My Juneteenth celebration this year was planned to bring family and community together to acknowledge our need for each other, just to survive, and to honor our ancestry that made it possible to live “free-ish” as Black folk in a country that has worked diligently to keep us second class citizens by denying us freedom and access.

Marshaé Sylvester

June is Pride month as well as the celebration of Juneteenth. Amid all of the celebrations, I have been reflecting on liberation and freedom and their meaning.