Juneteenth events come to an end with all-faith worship service
CHILLICOTHE— The Ross County NAACP and the Pump House Center for the Arts ended their month-long Juneteenth celebration with an all-faith worship service.
The outdoor event was filled with singing, dancing and prayer. Many wore matching Juneteenth shirts with sayings like, "I'm Black every day, but today I'm Blackity Black Black Black."
The four-hour event took place Sunday with Pastor Derrick Holmes from Second Baptist Church in Circleville acting as the worship leader and said he wanted to honor everyone's traditions.
More: Pump House Center for the Arts celebrates opening night of show celebrating Juneteenth
"We are gathered here today, not only in celebration of our God but in celebration of Juneteenth," Holmes said. "God is a God of liberation. As we celebrate Juneteenth, we can rejoice that on June 19, 1865, everybody, everybody was declared free."
Terrill Barnes represented the city of Chillicothe and Mayor Luke Feeney by giving a proclamation to honor Juneteenth.
"Despite the end of slavery in America, other systems of oppression against African Americans have continued throughout American history and so we are called as a society to fight vigorously to end them in part through education about our history," Barnes said. "Understanding our history gives us the ability to better empathize with our neighbors and understand the world around us."
Other speakers included John Coates, second Vice President of the NAACP Columbus branch, Adrienne D'Souza, President of the Ross County NAACP, Pastor Victor Davis from Quinn Chapel AME church and more.
Several groups performed at the service, including the Voices of Thunder from Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Springfield, the Zion Youth Mime and Lisa Seward with God’s Chosen Ones.
Winners of the Juneteenth Literary Expression Contest
The Pump House hosted a Juneteenth literary expression essay contest and two winners were chosen and announced at the event. The essay contest addressed various topics related to Juneteenth for Ross County students in grades 4 through 12.
4th grader Desarai Byrd won for her essay about what Juneteenth means to her. As a young Black girl, Byrd said the emancipation of enslaved Americans is important because it provided freedom to the slaves and allows her to be free today.
Chillicothe high schooler Reagan Helmick won for her essay about how to spread awareness about Juneteenth. She wrote about posting on social media, giving public speeches and hosting events to celebrate the occasion.
Angela Young, second vice president of the Pump House, said she created the contest to include young people in the Juneteenth celebration, "because they are our futures."
"You have put it down on paper, now it's time for you to execute," Young said. "Do not stop on paper, whatever you do... What you put on your resume will help you grow, will help you get to the goals that you want to get to and I'm not talking about resume for jobs, I'm talking about resume for life."
Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at mbecker@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Juneteenth events come to an end with all-faith worship service
