Marchers observe eight minutes 46 seconds of silence at Juneteenth Moment of Silence for Black Lives Matter Victims

This was the scene in Donner Park on Juneteenth, as over 100 citizens marched in remembrance of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality. The length of the march was no accident — 8 minutes and 46 seconds is the recorded amount of time Floyd was pinned to the ground under a white Minneapolis police officer’s knee before he died.

The event was entitled Juneteenth Moment of Silence for Black Lives Matter Victims.

 

Normally religious communities mark Juneteenth with worship services, fellowship, service projects, parades and picnics. This year social distancing because of COVID-19 and unrest ignited by Floyd’s death beneath the knee of a Minneapolis police officer are changing where and how they will observe the day.

Mosques, synagogues, churches and other houses of worship around the country are planning everything from internet classes to marches and rallies, many reflecting on the state of race 155 years later.

Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. While the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places until the Civil War ended two years later. June 19, 1865, was the day Union soldiers told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the war was over and they were free.

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.