News

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a speech in Rochester entitled, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?. He stated to an audience at an Independence Day celebration that, “This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine…Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.” What Douglass was conveying is that he could not celebrate the Fourth of July, Independence Day, when many Black people in America were not free but still in bondage and suffering at the hands of their enslavers in a “free nation.”  

It was on June 19, 1865 when the last known Black enslaved people in Galveston TX were made aware of their freedom from chattel slavery, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and 13 years after Douglass’ speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?.

June 19th, became known as Juneteenth, a time to celebrate because it symbolizes the end of slavery for ALL Black people. It is a time of true jubilee and celebration! The spirit behind Juneteenth entails  that we should not be okay with the idea that the majority are doing well, but concern ourselves with the few who aren’t. If there is one that is experiencing bondage, injustice, unfair treatment, discrimination, or oppression; we don’t ignore that and celebrate the majority, but instead we stop and stand in solidarity with those left in the margins. 

Roberts Wesleyan University's founding principles to extend compassion and justice to all people are part of why we celebrate Juneteenth. We recognize there are some still experiencing bondage (e.g., mass incarceration, police brutality, concentrated poverty, educational and health disparities, etc.).

We promise our students that “from our deep roots in Christian faith, Roberts is committed to equipping and empowering all students with the character and competence to understand these deep concerns of the world and to respond in local and practical ways.”

Today, we honor this federal holiday by connecting our heads (understanding the concept of freedom) with our hearts (embracing that all are made in the image of God) and engaging our hands in service (embodying the inclusive meaning of Juneteenth) to aid in the flourishing of people and communities. 

Dr. Sonnette M. Bascoe

Special Advisor to President for Diversity & Belonging