Organizations and individuals across the country came together this weekend to celebrate the emancipation of slaves in the United States. Some took place in northern Illinois. This freedom from slavery happened nearly two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after the end of the Civil War. This commemoration, newly recognized as a federal holiday, is known as Juneteenth.
Aurora’s St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, located at 27 S. Edgelawn Drive, was filled with prayer, song and poetry. This was in honor of the nine people who were killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
Patrick Fish is the associate pastor of St. Mark’s. He said the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America congregations in Aurora wanted to acknowledge that the killer of the “Emanuel Nine” was a part of the Lutheran family.
“Dylann Roof was actually an ELCA born and raised kid. And so, we're a part of this problem,” Fish said. “Whether we want to believe it or not, it's here. And so we felt like we couldn't just have a celebration without some confession. And so we tried to fit in the three Cs.”
Those three Cs are confession, celebration and commitment. Fish said even after Juneteenth, there is still work to do in the city.
“And our people of color for too long have been silenced or put in the background, or they are made just one day a year where, you know, we're going to advocate for [them]," he said. "And I want to be a 365 all the time where we’re doing that as a church.”
John Jensen attended the service. He's white. He said he came to the event because he believes everyone has to do to their part to tackle racism.
“I think my own feeling is that we need to start with empathy and understanding,” Jensen explained. “And hopefully be prepared that when there is an opportunity to say or do something that said I would be -- that we would all be brave enough to do that."
Yehiel Curry is the bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA. He said this event is different from the first Lutheran event he attended in Chicago earlier in the day, because this one was not led by Black clergy.
“If Juneteenth is going to be celebrated in a way that brings about transformation,” he said, “we have to do the work and we have to all be part of the process. And so, I was inspired just by the involvement of four congregations. How it was led and being led by our allies.”
Three other congregations partnered with St. Mark’s for the “On the Road Together” event -- New Hope Lutheran Church at 701 N. Randall Road, Our Savior Lutheran Church at 420 W. Downer Place and Faith Lutheran Church at 3000 Liberty St.
These places of worship want to remind everyone that not being a racist is not enough. They say the community should focus on being anti-racist.
Another northern Illinois city celebrated the holiday but in a different way.
Juneteenth isn’t new to the city of Rockford. The Forest City held its 31st annual Juneteenth celebration this weekend at Sinnissippi Park.
Timothy Meeks is the longtime organizer of the event. He said this year was special.
“Having the president [of the] United States recognize this, having the governor recognize it, I feel vindicated,” he explained. “I'm not going to lie. Some people thought I was nuts 31 years ago, starting this off.”
Part of this Juneteenth celebration in Rockford included the addition of Black Graduation, a ceremony that Anqunette Parham said is about honoring the work of students of color.
“We know especially in our community that still struggles to actually see equity in terms of graduation rates between students of color and white students," Parham said. "It's very important that we take the time to recognize the achievements that Black students have made within Rockford public schools.”
Meeks said whether Juneteenth made it on the books or not, it has a home in Rockford.
“Juneteenth is going to be celebrated if nobody does [it] but me and my family,” Meeks said.
The two northern Illinois events were different in the way they observed Juneteenth. But at their hearts, both commemorated the lives of Black Americans, past and present.
- WNIJ's Yvonne Boose and Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco contributed to this report. Both are current corps members for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
