“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right,” - Rosa Parks.

Freedom Day and African American Emancipation Day are both synonymous with Juneteenth. On this day the nation celebrates and commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865, by order to Major General Granger, a proclamation was issued from Galveston, Texas, abolishing slavery. The message highlighted the equality of personal rights between masters and slaves and furthermore required the relationship to be turned into an employer and hired labor with proper compensation of services.

Juneteenth Across the Nation:

From this day on there was a slow rise in the recognition of Juneteenth. From one city to the next, communities began commemorating African American Emancipation with community events and a recall of history. The recognition spread from community to community across the nation until June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, thereby recognizing it a federal holiday.

Today, regardless of race or background, Juneteenth is recognized by the entirety of the nation as a day of freedom, a day of breaking away from past conditions, as change and progress ahead, and as a day to remember to never lose our humanity. 

“The black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness”-Marcus Garvey.

What You Can Do to Celebrate:

Find your local libraries and community centers and join in Juneteenth commemorations. Listen to the words of the greatest African American writers and poets, volunteer with local community building projects, break bread together and remember. The spirit of Juneteenth has always welcomed indiscriminately to all who are willing to learn through humility and respect.

“Freedom is something that you have to do for yourself,” Malcom X.