RNS Morning Report - Special Juneteenth Edition: In Richmond, churches retrace the path of the enslaved to confront their own history

In Richmond, churches retrace the path of the enslaved to confront their own history   Last Saturday (June 13), RNS National Reporter Fiona André tagged along on a spiritual pilgrimage through Richmond’s sites of racial history with a group of nearly 20 people. They started the day walking along a muddy trail by Manchester Docks, where hundreds of thousands of enslaved people walked years before toward the city’s auction house.   “Every time I looked out at the water, all I could do was see people coming in on ships and disembarking, just in a frenzy. So my heart bled for that,” Renee Monford, a participant, told André.   As we observe Juneteenth, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas received news of their liberation two years after the abolition of slavery,  André wanted to report on this project initiated by two Episcopal churches coming together to confront their history and the denomination’s racist past.             Top Stories In Richmond, churches retrace the path of the enslaved to confront their own history RICHMOND, Va. (RNS) — Just as the country prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — and Juneteenth — Virginia Episcopalians are trying to reckon with the role of their city and their denomination in slavery as a founding reality of the United States. For preservers of lynching history in the US, Juneteenth is a religious reckoning (RNS) — The Equal Justice Initiative’s Bryan Stevenson says confronting America’s lynching history is a matter of faith that demands truth-telling and repentance — especially on America’s most recently recognized national holiday. ‘Not a day off’: For Juneteenth, some faith leaders promote political causes (RNS) — ‘As we acknowledge the contributions of the African American community to America, it’s appropriate for us to lead the way in unifying and making a call for unity,’ said evangelist Alveda King, niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Opinion 161 years after Juneteenth, there is unfinished work of freedom (RNS) — The forces that threaten freedom continually take new forms. Is this the civil rights moment of our day?  (RNS) — The hard-won gains of the civil rights era are steadily being eroded by political pandering to white anxiety in the midst of growing diversity. Support Our Work As a nonprofit newsroom that covers all faiths, RNS sits uniquely at the intersection of freedom of the press and freedom of religion. News tips or feedback? Email comments@religionnews.com. Like the Morning Report? Share it with a friend. Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here. We rely on reader donations to power our reporting. Donate here. Or send a check to: Religion News Foundation PO Box 1808 Columbia, MO 65205

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