Evanston Interfaith Juneteenth Letter

Dear Faith Communities in Evanston and Beyond, 

Evanston Interfaith Clergy and Leaders write to you in celebration of Juneteenth, 155 years after the last enslaved people were told of their emancipation from the evils of slavery. We add our voices to the calls to make this day a national holiday in recognition of the power of Black Indigenous People of Color to survive and thrive despite the overwhelming systems of racism which exist in all facets of society and our economy – in education, healthcare, housing, and in policing and criminalization. 

We write with heavy hearts about the murders of so many Black and Brown siblings at the hands of police, recognizing these murders as the result of violence, militarization and oppression, which disproportionately impact Black lives while diminishing the humanity of everyone. 

We join in mourning and remembrance of the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others whose lives have ended because of racist systems that have been unchallenged. We also lament and mourn the tremendous losses our nation has sustained due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also disproportionately impacted marginalized communities including People of Color. 

The Chicago Board of Rabbis issued a statement in response to the murder of George Floyd, which says:  

“The Torah … teaches, “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor”(Leviticus 19:16). Too many have stood by for too long through a history of lynching, kidnapping, enslavement, Jim Crow, [criminalization] and other forms of racism. We must not stand idly by as our fellow human beings cry out with anger and grief.”  

A statement on racism from the Evanston Catholic Pastors says: 

“We lift our voices in prayer and unite our voices with all here on earth that this police abuse of power must stop now everywhere in our nation. To those who tried to make this moment something else by their violence, we unite with all who condemn them and their mask of evil which will not ever cover the true face of justice and truth.”  

We call on our congregants, especially those who have white skin privilege, to engage in the struggle to dismantle white supremacy as it collectively exists. We must be brave in examining the way power moves in this world. We must be fearless in examining how we benefit or are harmed by abusive power, and we must accept responsibility and accountability for the ways we either abdicate or use our own agency.  

We encourage the people we serve, and we dedicate ourselves, to continue to learn together, to invest in local Black owned businesses, to join in partnership with Black led organizations, to advocate and organize and witness to the harm that is done every day in oppressed communities.  

Your faith leaders unite in our love of God and love of our neighbors. We unite to recognize our common humanity and our interdependence. We unite to contribute to our collective liberation, knowing we are bound in mutuality, and that none of us are free until all of us are free. We unite to create the Beloved Community built on the foundations of equity and compassion that recognizes the dignity and worth of all human beings.  

Yours in faith and in service, 

Evanston Interfaith Clergy and Leaders 

Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Unitarian Church of Evanston 

Rabbi Andrea London, Beth Emet the Free Synagogue 

Rev. Dr. Michael Nabors, Second Baptist Church 

Rev. Michael Kirby, Northminster Presbyterian Church 

Rev. Ann Ohlrogge Johnson – Parish Associate, Northminster Presbyterian Church  

Fr Robert Oldershaw, St Nicholas Parish