A new feature-length documentary from Our Daily Bread takes a look at the spiritual significance of the Juneteenth holiday.
The documentary is titled “Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom” and is hosted by pastor Rasool Berry.
“Learn how Scripture inspired the faith of enslaved people, travel to the church where America’s first Juneteenth celebration took place, and uncover why newly liberated men and women credited God for their freedom,” reads the description from Our Daily Bread.
Special guests in the documentary include Ms. Opal Lee, a leading activist who has fought to make Juneteenth a federally-recognized holiday. Rapper Lecrae and other guests are also featured in the film, which takes viewers to Juneteenth’s birthplace in Galveston, Texas.
Emancipation Day, as it’s also known, is the nation’s newest federal holiday, enacted into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.
The new public holiday commemorates when enslaved African Americans in Texas were officially informed that they were free. Although President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it wasn’t actively enforced in Texas until two years later.
The first town in Texas to receive the news was Galveston, which is why it’s known as the birth place of the holiday. Americans in other parts of the U.S. also celebrated Juneteenth long before Biden made it a federal holiday. But the president’s action compels all Americans to view Juneteenth as shared history, and not only as Black history.
Watch “Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom” in the player below, or at YouTube.
