Today we commemorate Juneteenth, the national holiday that marks the end of the worst era of our history, an era in which our country failed to live up to the ideals promised in the Declaration of Independence: “…that all [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Though we failed then, today God has graced us with a “do over.” We each can do our part to help our precious democratic experiment live up to her loftiest ideals.
It is fitting, therefore, that Juneteenth is celebrated nearly two weeks to the day before the commemoration of our freedom and independence as a nation, allowing us simultaneously to mourn the past, celebrate the present, and commit to doing better in the future. So, the Office for Community Belonging invites you to join us this June 19th, Juneteenth, in reflecting upon how we can each build a stronger, even more inclusive community at Pepperdine and—as a result—a fairer and more inclusive world.