EXCLESIOR SPRINGS – Mayor Sharon Powell issued a proclamation in recognition of Juneteenth, a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation issued during the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln to free the slaves.

The proclamation, in part, states:

• Juneteenth is the most popular celebration of Black emancipation in the United States after the Civil War, commemorating June 19, 1865, as the day the Union Army enforced Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation in Texas;

• On Juneteenth, we pray for the end of racism, racial inequalities and hatred in our nation, for an end to all forms of slavery and human trafficking in the world;

• It is a goal to serve the best interests of all, achieve equality and social justice, and act with integrity, knowing that addressing systemic racism is an ethical obligation;

• “The fierce urgency of now,” as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, is long overdue and all should stand with those who can forge real change and support an aggressive respect for human rights;

• The public should embrace new ideas, methods and skills, and above all, courage to step into roles it might have been uncomfortable with in the past;

• Great social changes often come from turmoil, and local government leaders can lead that transformation; and

• “Living in God’s grace and forgiveness, may we confess and confront our own prejudices and fears, serving as catalysts for change, reconciliation, and healing.”