HAPPY JUNETEENTH!

[Shak_Celts]

Watch on YouTube

https://today.cofc.edu/2018/06/18/african-american-studies-juneteenth/

https://www.aaihs.org/juneteenth-and-the-broader-black-freedom-struggle/


For those who don't know, from the Smithsonian:

"Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas. "





Free, but not really?! WE FREED OURSELVES!!
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/juneteenth-history-black-people-nothing-changed-20230619.html

[Parliament10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth

Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining June and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865 (two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued).[7] Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture. The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Glad we're giving a moment in black history the place it deserves in our holidays! Still a long way to go with what we memorialize and who we make heroes out of..