NAACP Event Celebrates Emancipation
Celebrating the freeing of American slaves during the Civil War, about 200 people attended the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s annual Jubilee Day celebration Sunday at Pacoima’s New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ.
Members of the community gathered to remember the struggles slaves endured for hundreds of years and the hardships faced by today’s less fortunate.
Jubilee Day, the recognition of President Abraham Lincoln’s Jan. 1, 1863, signing of the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves, is celebrated on the first Sunday of each year.
It gives NAACP branches across the country the opportunity to reflect on the past and take a serious look at its goals for the new year.
In a report on what the Emancipation Proclamation means today, San Fernando High School student Whitney Cornell said she was astonished to discover that the document applied only to slaves in Confederate states.
“The foundation on which it was written was shaky,” Cornell said. On behalf of her generation, she thanked everyone “who fought for civil rights and those who campaigned for freedom.”
Rabbi Steven Jacobs of Woodland Hills’ Temple Kol Tikvah, the featured speaker at Sunday’s jubilee, worked alongside the Rev. Jesse Jackson in protesting Florida’s handling of votes in November’s presidential election.
Jacobs pledged to work to prevent the Republican Party from winning such a close election in 2004.
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