KNOXVILLE, TN — “Keep it moving.” Those were the words of the decree issued by Mistress of Ceremony Cynthia Finch to the crowd who had gathered in the sanctuary of the historic Mt. Zion Baptist Church for the 163rd National Observance of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The local observance of the proclamation which freed the slaves on January 1st, 1863, has been held in Knoxville by the local NAACP for the last twelve years.
The event was well attended with representatives from many local churches, state and local officials, community leaders. The keynote speaker for the occasion was Pastor Daryl Arnold, Senior Pastor at Overcoming Believers Church. Arnold gave an encouraging word reminding the people you can’t go where you first can not see in your mind. His sermon, taken from Numbers 13, reminded the people to stay positive, believing that despite the attempts to destroy our identity as a race, that the same God who brought us out then, is the same God now. Arnold exhorted everyone, especially the youth to see themselves greater than the giants before them; saying “fear is a gift you don’t have to open.” His final charge for 2026 was to not get too comfortable in the wilderness in which we find ourselves, his words strengthening the charge given by Finch to “Keep it Moving.”
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