A.M.E. Zion Juneteenth Showcase

Frederick Douglass. Sojourner Truth. Harriet Tubman. James Walker Hood. These are just some of the heroes and heroines of the faith who paved the path of faith and freedom in the nation and through the Zion Church. They understood Jesus when he said that he was “anointed to proclaim good news to the poor … liberty to the captive” (Luke 4:18).

They rejected the wicked distortions that tried to justify injustice with Scripture and proclaimed Jesus and justice throughout the land. Their work provided the moral clarity President Abraham Lincoln needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which announced freedom to all enslaved in the Confederacy effective January 1, 1863. But this was in the middle of the Civil War, and the Confederate States of America would not end the inhumane practice of slavery without a fight. It would take over 600,000 lives and two and a half years before the end of the Civil War, and the arrival of soldiers brought freedom to Texas.

On June 19, 1865, thousands of soldiers, many of them (upwards to 4,000) Black soldiers, arrived on the shores of Galveston to enforce freedom, a culmination of the work of the A.M.E. Zion luminaries and so many others who fought for freedom.

Juneteenth is also known as Freedom Day because it was the day freedom finally came to those enslaved in the farthest reaches of the Confederacy. There’s no better place, therefore, than A.M.E. Zion, also known as Freedom Church, to host a celebration of Juneteenth. Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom is an award-winning documentary that I got the privilege to host. It highlights the story of Juneteenth through the stories of the descendants of those emancipated in Texas on June 19, 1865.

The A.M.E. Zion Church has partnered with the producers of the film, Our Daily Bread Ministries, to hold a contest to host a screening of the film at an A.M.E.Z. church simulcast on AMEZ.TV.

More details will follow. We are excited to celebrate Juneteenth together and recall together the trials and triumphs of those who came before us, prayed for freedom, and experienced a divine deliverance on Juneteenth.

Happy Juneteenth!