Blacks mark anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation

SAVANNAH - It was a fitting location, this Baptist church in Savannah, to celebrate the end of slavery. And to remember that the injustices suffered by black Americans didn&#39;t end when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. <br> <br> Black Georgians gathered at churches across the state Tuesday to mark the 139th anniversary of the edict that led to the official end of slavery in the American South. <br> <br> But at Second African Baptist Church in Savannah, the celebration was bittersweet. It was here that Union Gen. William Sherman read field order No. 15, promising freed slaves &#39;&#39;40 acres and a mule&#39;&#39; in January 1865 a promise made and forgotten. <br> <br> Those who gathered in the historic church were reminded that equality didn&#39;t really come to these parts in 1863. Or in 1963, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke here. Some wondered if it has yet. <br> <br> ``Where the spirit is, there&#39;s freedom. A lot of folk think they&#39;re free but they ain&#39;t,&#39;&#39; said the visiting Rev. Jerome E. McNeil. <br> <br> Savannah Mayor Floyd Adams Jr. challenged the crowd to vote. He said too many youths are dropping out of schools and too many parents aren&#39;t going to their children&#39;s schools to find out why. He wondered whether the black community isn&#39;t as church-going as it once was. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m challenging ministers: Open up your doors and let them in,&#39;&#39; Adams said. ``We need outreach. We&#39;re here for the betterment of our history.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In an Watkinsville church, the Rev. R.E. Cooper also talked about the role of religion in the civil rights movement. <br> <br> ``In the African-American community, religion has always been a part of everything that has been done,&#39;&#39; Cooper told a crowd at Bethel Baptist Church. ``When Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in 1863, there was a religious service to celebrate that freedom. It all started in church.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Speaker Alene Denson, an accounting director at Clarke Atlanta University, called for black Americans to re-commit to being ``the salt of the earth.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``When the world comes into contact with you, it will never be the same,&#39;&#39; Denson said.