LUBBOCK, Texas -
Commemorating the end of slavery in the Texas and looking forward to a day where there is no more hate.
"It's always important for us to remember where we came from, but we are not only celebrating being free from slavery, but being free from bondage, being free from racism, being free from depression, being free from anything that's holding us down," said Juneteenth committee member Corey Godfrey. "So we're not just dwelling on the past but we're going forward in the future."
Godfrey said even though we have made progress toward equality, there is a lot of room for improvement.
"Equality can take place whenever we all just love each other," he said. "When there's love, and love in our hearts, no matter the race, the color, creed, sexual orientation, religious background, as long as we know that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, equality can then make itself know across our city."
We have to look past barriers we have faced in the past.
"No color, no race, no background, no horror stories," he said. "Equality is just everyone understanding that everyone is equal and no matter who you are, what you are, or what you want to be, as long as we look at life as, you only live once, that's what equality is about to me."
His mother, Latrice Godfrey said along with equality, the community must come together and move forward from the past.
"Everyone playing their part," Godfrey said. "Not just the pastors or the churches or the businesses. It's going to take everyone. I remember the old saying that it takes a village to raise children, and if we go back to that, I feel like it will make a difference."
That is what Charles Gonzales said the weekend was all about.
"We can all get along no matter what color you are," Gonzales said. "White, black, green, purple. You know if we just all come together as one town, one nation, you know, the sky's the limit."
