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Friend,
Happy Juneteenth! I was proud to join the Placer County Juneteenth celebration this weekend as parents, children, teachers, pastors, politicians, and community leaders, representing a wide racial, religious, and political spectrum, came together to celebrate emancipation from slavery and the progress our nation has made in the last 160 years.
Juneteenth also reminds us that tremendous work still needs to be done to fully abolish the legacy of slavery still festering in our country.
This celebration stands, sadly, in stark contrast to more divisive messages that have generated national attention for Rocklin over the past few years. Moms for Liberty (a branch of the Proud Boys) won the local school board races, and our local Congressman is spreading messages of hate and division.
But our community has been fighting back, protesting the School Board’s book banning intended to eradicate Black history from our schools and pushing back against Kiley’s attempts to vilify inclusion and diversity.
In the face of all these acts of hate over the past few years, I am proud to say that activists and community leaders have come together to stand up and push back. A local pastor created a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community. Local families started a book club to learn about racial diversity. And local teachers continue to teach the writings of Dr. King and his modern disciples – even in the face of book bannings and potential fines.
Dr. King admonished us, “When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Each of us must do our part to help build the Beloved Community.”
I am proud to stand with our community to ensure we teach and learn the lessons from history and work together to secure a more just, fair, and free world than the one we inherited.
I know for those leading these fights, this work can feel beleaguering and isolating. Standing up and fighting to hold ground, month after month, is tough work.
At the Placer County Juneteenth Celebration, filled with smiles, hugs, music, and dancing, I saw Dr. King’s ‘Beloved Community’ manifested – proving that we can dissolve hatred with love.
Dr. King said: “The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends… It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.”
I am proud to stand with our community to celebrate Juneteenth. Together we are demonstrating the transformative love for our neighbors and together we will bring about miracles.
-- Jessica Morse
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