Hope and Change π
On this Juneteenth -I am ashamed to say this is truly the first time I have truly been aware of itβs true meaning. I am ashamed of my ignorance, for so long. I disliked history in school. It was dry and boring and I did not connect with it.
As an adult I have been busy working since I was 19. Working and commuting and and raising kids starting in my late 20s, and just getting through to the next day was all I could do.
As a senior it is far late for me to be woke, but I am, finally.
Woke to many things I never had time for, or made time for, before in my life.
Woke to the horrific damages and injustices to black people in our country.
As a white girl from Utah and then California, I didnβt face these same damages or injustices. I was privileged to not have to even think about them. Privileged to be able to walk out the door and into any door of my choosing. No fear of prejudice or injustice.
When I got pulled over 3 times in my brand new car by local police, it was because I was a young 19 year old blonde girl, driving a cool brand new car. I was never harassed by police, but instead them stopping me was just a chance to get my number.
I am going to use this day, this Juneteenth, and every Juneteenth in the future, to apologize to every black person in our country, for the injustices that have happened for centuries, decades and continue to this day. I pray some day with real justice and equality, you can heal beyond the atrocities you have endured.
There is no forgetting the horrific injustice. Even if no one ever laid a hand on you, you have been impacted by the fear of not being able to move freely, in peace, as you drive or walk down the street.
While there is no forgetting – I pray this day can be celebrated as a day of new HOPE and CHANGE. Change as we move forward to secure liberty and justice and peace for all.
May we create a country where there is not a hint of injustice or prejudice, within our borders. Or the world.
May GOD bless this day as a day of HOPE and CHANGE.
NO Thanks to anything less. π