Here in the United States, we’re heading into the July 4th holiday–a holiday that expands or contracts depending on where in the week in falls. It’s also a holiday where the meaning of what we are celebrating is often lost in the celebration itself.

In the past I’ve used this post to remind all of us of this ideal which stands at the core of who we are: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 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.”

This year, with the long-overdue approval of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, I’m thinking about the 4th of July holiday as the beginning of a promise that has not yet been completely fulfilled. That promise is worth celebrating.

Picnics, fireworks, and barbecue are nice. Civil rights are better.