HAPPY JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION DAY!
Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th of every year since 2021. The Federal holiday this year is June 20th.
President Biden signed the holiday into federal law as the the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on June 17, 2021 - the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was added in 1983. In accord with other federal holidays, banks, schools and government companies (like post offices) will be closed. Since Juneteenth falls on a Sunday in 2022, workers in states that recognize the holiday have Monday, June 20, off of work, though some will observed it on Friday the 17th.
Since then, only 24 states, and the District of Columbia, have passed legislation or issued executive orders that provide funding to let state employees observe the day as a paid state holiday, according to the Pew Research Center. They are: Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.According to the New York Times, Appropriately, Texas was the first state in the U.S. to make Juneteenth a paid day off in 1980.
Juneteenth is extremely important because its commemoration marks the legal end of slavery in the U.S. achieved by the Union's victory in the Civil War. Specifically, Juneteenth commemorates when Union General Gordon Granger (and 2,000 troops) arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, on June 19, 1865, when Granger read a federal order telling the 250,000 enslaved African Americans in Texas that they were legally free by Executive Order after the Civil War had ended. Therefore, General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln, on January 1, 1863. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in areas under Confederate control. In the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be legally free until Juneteenth.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution added the abolishment of slavery to the Constitution was passed by Congress in January 1865, but was not ratified and adopted until December 1865.
Juneteenth has been commemorated by African Americans since the late 1800s. As of today, all 50 states have recognized Juneteenth by enacting some type of celebratory proclamation. The holiday is also called “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.”
Some traditional ways to celebrate Juneteenth are rodeos, fishing, barbecuing, baseball, a prayer service, speaker series, reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, and dances. Some practical ways to celebrate in 20922 also include: order food from a Black-owned restaurant; support the Black Lives Matter movement and antiracism work; educate yourself and reflect; spend the day reading about Juneteenth's history; watch the documentary 13th on Netflix or other movies, shows, books and podcasts about real-world, present-day issues; watch online Juneteenth events; put a sign in your front yard; and/or celebrate with a barbecue or family meal.
*****
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/us/juneteenth-states-paid-holiday.html?.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth#:~:text=Freedom%20finally%20came%20on%20June,newly%20freed%20people%20in%20Texas.
https://www.cnet.com/culture/juneteenth-2022-the-history-of-the-holiday-and-how-to-celebrate-today/
