WASHINGTON — Soul food, dancing and laughter are the makings of any memorable Black get-together. But this weekend, African Americans around the nation are gathering for more than just another fun summer cookout — it’s Juneteenth.

This vibrant celebration, considered the longest-running African American holiday, honors the liberation of enslaved ancestors.

The historical background of Juneteenth

At the height of the Civil War in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in Confederate states. Legions of Black Union soldiers marched across cities and onto plantations spreading the news of freedom. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective on Jan. 1, 1863, it could not be enforced in places under Confederate control.

Enslaved people in Galveston Bay, Texas, the farthest Confederate state, did not know they were free until two and a half years later: June 19, 1865, when approximately 2,000 Union troops arrived. Juneteenth, short for June nineteenth, marks the day that 250,000 enslaved Black people in the Lone Star State were freed. This celebratory day honoring the end of slavery was officially recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

“Juneteenth is a time to celebrate, for those who were not aware of this, I would say limited emancipation,” said the Rev. Willie F. Wilson, pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington. “Other means were quickly developed to maintain slavery in this country, i.e. sharecropping, criminal leasing, black codes.”

Black liberation through education

Like many African Americans, Wilson was not taught about Juneteenth in the public education system. He was first introduced to the holiday through his independent study as a journalism student at Ohio University. Wilson spoke fondly of that time that he refers to as “the height of the Black consciousness movement in America,” when he and his were immersed in researching and learning about Black culture and history.

“The foundational key to true education is knowledge of self,” Wilson said. “Without proper knowledge of self, it limits your possibilities of what you can achieve. There have been deliberate attempts in this country to deny Black people proper knowledge of the greatness of their heritage and history.”

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that educating the younger generation on their historical and cultural identity has been one of the core missions of Wilson’s ministry. Since 1980, Union Baptist Temple has organized a rite of passage trip to Ghana, West Africa, for teenagers between the ages of 11 and 16.

“As they crossover into manhood and womanhood, we take them to the land of their ancestors,” Wilson said. “We visit the slave dungeons at Cape Coast and Goree Island. Then we take them to on the banks of the Atlantic Ocean, where our ancestors were put on ships and brought to this country. All of it is about educating our people to understand who they really are and where they came from.”

The Black church in the age of Black Lives Matter

In a time when domestic terrorist attacks on Black people and police brutality cases frequent the news, the Black church plays a pivotal role in the fight for racial justice. In the 46 years that Wilson has served as a minister, he has been committed to fighting for justice, fairness, and equality — on occasion even being arrested for it.

“The Black church in America has always been the center of activity — not just for worship on Sunday, but education and involved in trying to bring about fairness and justice and equality,” he explained. “It’s not anything new. We’ve been the Black Lives Matter movement from the time I’ve been at the church all these many years and were certainly involved when George Floyd was killed.”

Apart from speaking and marching for racial justice, Wilson and the pastoral team at Union Temple Baptist are active in serving the community through various programs. These include assisting long-term welfare recipients to transition to working, supporting individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS and offering counseling services for court-adjudicated juveniles.

Liberation of the oppressed through Christ

As African Americans celebrate liberation from slavery this weekend, Wilson believes the community must also embrace true freedom in Christ. “A customized version of Christianity was developed through various cataclysms that were put in place from the time of slavery that gave us a warped view of what the coming of Jesus meant to oppressed people,” Wilson explained.

As a young minister, Wilson said, he was fortunate to learn how to recognize the misrepresentation of Christ’s teaching through his mentors. Howard Thurman, who was also the mentor of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.; Mordecai Johnson, the first Black president of Howard University; and Benjamin Mays, the president of Morehouse College, taught Wilson Jesus’ true, liberating message for oppressed people, he said.

“Many don’t realize the freedom in understanding what Jesus taught to oppressed people,” Wilson said. “In his first inaugural address in Luke 4:18-19, he made it very clear who he had come for. He came to set free those who were captive, those who were blind — and not just physically blind but those who were mentally blind, who had not seen who they really were.” Wilson explained that once oppressed people, like the Black population in America, understand that Christ came to liberate the captives, this revelation allows them to experience “freedom that nothing and nobody can destroy or block.”

Juneteenth celebrations in the DMV

Throughout the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region — sometimes referred to as the DMV — historically Black churches will be celebrating Juneteenth with live music, cookouts and panel discussions on race in America. Grammy award-winning singer and producer Pharrell Williams partnered with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to bring leading gospel artists and choirs to the capital in a pop-up church service. Anthony Brown, Travis Greene, Kierra Sheard and the Howard Gospel Choir will be performing in West Potomac Park, home of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The First Baptist Church in District Heights, Maryland, will have a Juneteenth parade. On the other side of the city, the First Baptist Church of Vienna, Virginia, will host a celebration with musical performances, food trucks and vendors.

Although Union Temple Baptist will not be organizing a collective gathering for Juneteenth, Wilson looks forward to enjoying a meal with his family. “One of the great things that came out of the awareness of freedom in Texas was the making of what is called the red velvet cake,” Wilson said.

He explained that the redness of the cake symbolizes the bloodshed of African Americans. “Even as we celebrate Juneteenth, we are conscious … that we still have to struggle and fight for our freedom and liberation and equity and justice and fairness — not only here in America, but on the continent of Africa and wherever people of color are.”

Deborah Laker is an editorial fellow for ReligionUnplugged.com. She graduated with degrees in journalism and political science from Oral Roberts University.