Wishing our readers a Happy Juneteenth! It’s amazing the parts of history we learn as we grow older.
Why is Juneteenth celebrated?
On June 19, the United States observes Juneteenth to commemorate the end of slavery, a painful chapter in the nation’s history whose legacy continues to reverberate.
Washington Post
What’s the history of Juneetenth?
The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed enslaved people in Confederate states, but it did not immediately end slavery in places such as Texas that remained under Confederate control. Two and a half years later, on June 19, 1865, Union troops led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Tex., and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free. (Nationwide emancipation would come only with the ratification of the 13th Amendment later that year.)
Washington Post (emphasis added)
To us at smilingdad, Juneteenth is a celebration of We the People, and our quest to form a more perfect union. It’s another independence day, and holds deep meaning and celebration to the African-American community. President Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021, after the efforts of Opal Lee to make June 19th a national holiday.
Here’s to be a better future, day by day.
Sincerely yours,
smilingdad
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