Juneteenth Holiday: New Day of National Action, Celebrates Freedom, Emancipation, June 19, 1865

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- Protesters take a knee before a moment of silence outside Penn. Station & Madison Sq. Garden, NY, June 3, 2020.
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- AP News, 'Juneteenth: A day of joy and pain - and now national action,' June 18, 2022. - Ed.

- Juneteenth marks the day on June 19, 1865, that Union soldiers told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the South in 1863 but it was not enforced in many places until after the end of the Civil War in 1865. The day is recognized in 47 states and the District of Columbia. -



- Band performing in Texas for Emancipation Day, 1900.

In just about any other year, Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the day in 1865 that all enslaved black people learned they had been freed from bondage, would be marked by African American families across the nation with a cookout, a parade, a community festival, a soulful rendition of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” But in 2020, as the coronavirus ravishes black America disproportionately, as economic uncertainty wrought by the pandemic strains black pocketbooks, and as police brutality continues to devastate black families, Juneteenth is a day of protest. Red velvet cake, barbecued ribs and fruit punch are optional. - For many white Americans, recent protests over police brutality have driven their awareness of Juneteenth’s significance.

“This is one of the first times since the ’60s, where the global demand, the intergenerational demand, the multiracial demand is for systemic change,” said Cornell University professor Noliwe Rooks, a segregation expert. “There is some understanding and acknowledgment at this point that there’s something in the DNA of the country that has to be undone.” Friday’s celebrations will be marked from coast to coast with marches and demonstrations of civil disobedience, along with expressions of black joy in spite of an especially traumatic time for the nation. And like the nationwide protests that followed the police involved deaths of black men and women in Minnesota, Kentucky and Georgia, Juneteenth celebrations are likely to be remarkably more multiracial.

“I think this year is going to be exciting to make white people celebrate with us that we’re free,” said 35-year-old Army veteran David J. Hamilton III, who has organized a march & protest through a predominantly black, Hispanic & immigrant neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of NY.

Hamilton, who is black, said this year is his first treating “Juneteenth with the same fanfare as the 4th of July or Memorial Day.” In Tulsa, Oklahoma a day ahead of a planned presidential campaign rally Saturday for Trump, the Rev. Al Sharpton & Tiffany Crutcher, the twin sister of a black man killed by a city police officer in 2016, plan speeches about racial prejudice. Their event will take place in the Greenwood district, the site known as Black Wall Street, where dozens of black-owned businesses were destroyed by a white mob in deadly race riots nearly a century ago. In Wash., D.C., and around the US, activists affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement will host in-person and virtual events to celebrate the history of the black liberation struggle.

- As of Thursday, organizers with the Black Lives Matter movement said they had registered more than 275 Juneteenth WEEKEND EVENTS across 45 states, through its website... - More, + Photos, https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-juneteenth-ga-state-wire-holidays-virus-outbreak-be195cedeefab023a59ae936e07c54a7
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ALSO:

- CNN: 'What to know about Juneteenth now that it's a federal holiday,' June 18, 2022, + Video,
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/18/us/juneteenth-federal-holiday-what-to-know-cec/index.html

- NPR, 'Companies are selling Juneteenth branded products. Why that's a big problem,' June 17, '22. 'Watermelon Salad'
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/17/1101017257/juneteenth-products-companies-problematic



- Statue depicting a man holding the state law that made Juneteenth a state holiday in Galveston, Texas. The inscription reads "On June 19, 1865, at the close of the Civil War, U.S. Army General Gordon Granger issued an order in Galveston stating that the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was in effect." Later known as "Juneteenth," it marked the end of slavery in Texas. Juneteenth grew into an international commemoration and in 1979 became an official Texas holiday.
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- JUNETEENTH, 'America's 2nd Independence Day' is a federal holiday in the U.S. commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Juneteenth marks the anniversary of the announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas. Originating in Galveston, the holiday has been celebrated annually on June 19 in various parts of the country since the 1860s, often broadly celebrating African-American culture.

- The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in June 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Early celebrations date to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. Participants in the Great Migration out of the South carried their celebrations to other parts of the country. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, these celebrations were eclipsed by the nonviolent determination to achieve civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African American freedom and African-American arts.

Beginning with Texas by proclamation in 1938, & by legislation in 1979, each U.S. state & the District of Columbia have formally recognized the holiday in some way. With its adoption in certain parts of Mexico, the holiday became an international holiday. The day is celebrated by the Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles who escaped from slavery in 1852 & settled in Coahuila, Mexico. Traditions often include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" & "Lift Every Voice and Sing", & reading of works by noted African-American writers such as Ralph Ellison & Maya Angelou. Some celebrations also include rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, & Miss Juneteenth contests...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth