On Monday of this week, Americans observed the country’s newest federal holiday: Juneteenth. Commemorating the 1865 emancipation of enslaved people in Texas, Juneteenth is also known as the nation’s “second Independence Day.”
These many years later, the founders of the Christian Anti-Racist movement Pray March Act (PMA) are still advocating for dignity and respect for all. Writer Kristy Etheridge spoke to PMA leaders for a recent CT article on what it takes to build a “deeply Christian” racial justice movement.
The group’s director of organizing, Ciara Sebastien, “wants to see NYC’s 1 million public school students have equal access to a great education. One of her passions is advocating for quality mental health care, particularly after three disruptive pandemic years that disproportionately affected Black and brown families.”
Sebastien advocates for more guidance counselors for students. Right now, the current ratio in the district is 1:272.
“‘It’s impossible, right? And so that’s something the members of PMA want to see us address,’ Sebastien said. And that’s where one of PMA’s core tenets comes in: ‘We pray … because the task is bigger than us.’”
When the work before us seems impossible, may we follow Sebastien’s example of prayer and advocacy, trusting God to bring justice and mercy in ways we could never have expected.
