Kemba, Other FAME Youth
Celebrate Emancipation Proclamation
FAME Youth celebrated The Emancipation Proclamation on Friday, January 1. The ruling, gaining momentum in African-American churches, was a carryover of the Watch Night Service, or Freedom's Eve, where Blacks waited eagerly for President Lincoln's release of The Emancipation Proclamation, and where in 1863, enslaved Blacks became free.
FAME Youth worked diligently and were well-prepared in making their delivery.
Pastor Gillard S. Glover led "The Call to Worship" through responsive reading, followed by the anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
Jatarri Booker pressed his way delivering the invocation. Evangelist Faye Dadzie read Psalms 3:1-8, and Michael Johnson did the honor of reading, "The Emancipation Proclamation."
Presenter Jatarri Booker read his essay. His brother, Micah, read, "What The Emancipation Means To Me," which was Micah's original poem, and Kemba Griffith delivered her essay.
We tuned into the lyrics of "The Proclamation Rap," performed by artists Jatarri Booker and Michael Johnson. The rap was followed by a liturgical dance by Nichole Cherry.
An example of the work engaged by FAME Youth can be seen in the following essay:
"The Emancipation Proclamation"
By Kemba Griffith
"The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War, by Abraham Lincoln. It declared that everybody, being held as slaves within the rebellious states, were to be free.
"The Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways: It only applied to states that had broken away from the Union, which meant that it left slavery untouched in the border states. It also excluded the Confederacy (southern states which broke away from the Union in 1861), which were already under northern control. But more importantly, the freedom it promised depended on Union Military victory.
"Though The Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the Nation, it captured the hearts of millions of Americans. It even transformed the character of the war. The Proclamation announced the acceptance into the Union, Army, and Navy. It enabled the liberated to become liberators. Almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom by the end of the year.
"Since the beginning of the war, slaves had tried to secure their own liberty, and The Emancipation Proclamation helped with proving that the war must become a war for freedom. It strengthened the Union militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, The Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom."
