TransparencyJuneteenth
Freedom Day
Juneteenth marks the day (June 19, 1865) when a Union Army general, Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas and demanded that the state’s 250,000 plus enslaved people be set free, which was two and half years after President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.
Historically, then, Juneteenth is a holiday for formerly enslaved Black Americans and their descendants to celebrate their freedom through acts of symbolic resistance against American white supremacy. While celebrations of Juneteenth go back to 1866, the effort to make Juneteenth a federal holiday is fairly recent. Juneteenth celebrations revived during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. While Juneteenth doesn’t eliminate structural racism in America, recognizing it as a federal holiday is a crucial step towards bringing the rich history of Black Americans into the center of both our history and identity.
Ways you can celebrate:
- Shop black-owned businesses.
- Support black authors, poets, artists, and creators.
- Explore the National Museum of African American History and Culture virtually.