(ThyBlackMan.com) According to Dr. Charles Taylor: “Juneteenth or June 19, 1865, is considered the date when the last slaves in America were freed. Although the rumors of freedom were widespread prior to this, actual emancipation did not come until General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and issued General Order No. 3, on June 19, almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”
http://www.njclc.com/njclchistory.html (——
Juneteenth highlights and celebrates African Americans/blacks being “freed” in the United States of America. Not to take away from this great occasion or to minimize the fact that I am grateful to be physically “free” 
according the U.S. government/ U.S. Constitution/Bill of Rights, but I am even more grateful to be free spiritually and mentally! Freedom in one’s spirit and mind is such a beautifully divine gift! It is our spirit and mind that motivates and impels us to move forward. Those two components propel us physically to be about purpose/ to unapologetically act on the passion of life that encourages us to fulfill our dreams and goals.
Many of us are physically free, but we are spiritually and mentally bound, which essentially means we are physically bound because we allow our unhealthy spirits (lack of nourishing) and toxic thoughts to keep us stagnant. Many of us are reservoirs that hold in jealously, ill feelings, unkindness, low self-esteem, etc. and because we hold all of that in we cannot receive love, kindness, words of affirmation, and peace etc. We are like standing water that yields mosquitoes and other pests, rather than rivers that allow the current of our Creator-life- to flow through and in us–washing away the unhealthy things and providing us with nourishment and deposits that yield–LIFE.
Let us be rivers that flow freely to our main source-God–like Nile and the Mississippi Rivers. He has enough love, peace, kindness, longsuffering, assurance, and favor to go around for all of the rivers connected to Him. Consider the Nile River and the Mississippi River. Think about the number of rivers that flow from them and as a result of the connection to the main source, think about the other areas the rivers permeate/touch. Think about the number of areas that experience the same nourishment. Isn’t it phenomenal? Connection that keeps on giving, yielding, producing, growing, and providing.
Be free and uninhibited in the amazing canvas of Life. Be free!
(Songs that inspire me and came to my thoughts when writing this: “We Speak to Nations” by Lakewood Choir and “Give Me” by Kirk Franklin. Movie(s) that inspire me and came to my thoughts when writing this: “Braveheart” by Mel Gibson.)
That’s my twenty-nine cents. Blessings.
Staff Writer; J.J. Vann
Find out more about this talented sister over at; JJ Divine Expressions.
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