06/20/2026
Our Juneteenth Reflection...
Dear Friends,
As the United States celebrates Juneteenth, I want to offer some words on the importance of today. As we know, Juneteenth is now a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, specifically marking the day in 1865, when news of freedom finally reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas.
I often wonder how this moment must have felt to those in Galveston. The utter relief, the feeling of, but not knowing what it really felt like yet, to be free - to move about freely, to not have someone own you, to live as you want to live, worship as you want to worship, love freely, freedom from being assaulted or worse, hunted, and the freedom to actually have hope for your children. Yet, as we know, that freedom has never really been fully experienced by our African American communities and we see this every day as the narratives play out in the racist systems our country still adheres to.
I really appreciate today, because every Juneteenth, I learn something new. One person I follow regularly is historian, author and professor, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. One of his posts today was so relevant, I want to share it with you here:
"There are people who don’t celebrate Juneteenth just like there were people who didn’t celebrate the abolition of chattel slavery. Don’t mind those ideological descendants of enslavers and slaves. Today, is our day. Celebrating the formerly enslaved and our abolitionist comrades who recognized their antislavery power and never stopped resisting slavery. Just as we, their descendants, recognize our antiracist power and won’t stop resisting the afterlife of slavery: racism."
What is it then that our faith communities are called to do, to not only recognize this day as imperative in our country, but to also support our African American communities? Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Pope Leo XIV, Rabbi Joshua Heschel, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and yes, Malcolm X. - all of these leaders have, throughout time, informed us, offered us wisdom from Holy Texts, called upon the sacredness of our humanity that stems from our faith - to respect and lift everyone in our communities, regardless of their skin color. So, why is this so hard? Why, in 2026, is the United States still grappling with systematic racism that impedes our growth as decent humans?
I believe most of us know the answer to this ultimate question. The questions that follow are:
* What, as a person of faith, are you doing to address this racism?
* What are you doing as a Leader in your community to empower your faith communities to be better humans?
* What books are you reading and what authors are you learning from, to help you better understand how to approach not only this day more humbly and with the keen interest of learning, but how to be anti-racist in its truest form possible?
One of the most important books I have read in the last decade is by Isabel Wilkerson entitled, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent. If you haven't read it yet, I highly suggest you do. Wilkerson writes about the historical context of racism in the US and how, throughout time, our purposefully designed discriminatory system has reinforced itself again and again. Along with the historical side, she also discusses empathy and inclusion - all the things that we, as people of faith, are to practice and more, how we are expected to live out our faithful lives.
“In our era, it is not enough to be tolerant. You tolerate mosquitoes in the summer, a rattle in an engine, the gray slush that collects at the crosswalk in winter. You tolerate what you would rather not have to deal with and wish would go away. It is no honor to be tolerated. Every spiritual tradition says love your neighbor as yourself, not tolerate them ...
Radical empathy, on the other hand, means putting in the work to educate oneself and to listen with a humble heart to understand another's experience from their perspective, not as we imagine we would feel. Radical empathy is not about you and what you think you would do in a situation you have never been in and perhaps never will. It is the kindred connection from a place of deep knowing that opens your spirit to the pain of another as they perceive it.
Empathy is no substitute for the experience itself. We don't get to tell a person with a broken leg or a bullet wound that they are not in pain. And people who have hit the caste lottery are not in a position to tell a person who has suffered under the tyranny of caste what is offensive or hurtful or demeaning to those at the bottom. The price of privilege is the moral duty to act when one sees another person treated unfairly. And the least that a person in the dominant caste can do is not make the pain any worse.”
Simply put, as people of faith and belief, it is our moral duty to protect each other and to insist upon the recognition that each and every one of us are Divine Children of the Holy. This is not a difficult thing to do and it is, ultimately, a choice.
May we all choose our common humanity, not just today, on Juneteenth - but, every day.
Peace and All Good,
Dr. Karen Leslie Hernandez
Executive Director
