Illinois state Sen. Mike Simmons (D) represents the Edgewater neighborhood among others. An LGBTQ African American of Ethiopian descent, his partner and other family members joined our annual commemoration.

Juneteenth observes the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to the last pockets of slavery in Texas—two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the executive order. It declares an end to slavery in the United States.

The Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA) is a network of clergy and congregational leaders from Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other traditions in the Edgewater community area of Chicago. It has its roots during urban social upheaval in Chicago’s North Side in the 1960s and 1970s. Its work includes the establishment of Care For Real—a food pantry and mutual aid organization.

Edgewater Presbyterian Church is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA)—a mainline Reformed Church daughter of the Church of Scotland. It is an over 130 years old congregation founded by Scottish and Welsh immigrants to Chicago. It was once considered the most ethnically diverse congregation in the entire PCUSA.

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