The holiday is meant to commemorate emancipation from slavery.
Below you'll find a selection of lessons. What they're saying: "When you live in a society like ours, there's always the danger that these sorts of holidays will be absorbed into a kind of market, consumer-based. Why it matters: Juneteenth became a federal holiday just last year. - "You don't just want to commercialize it. without the holiday, those two different events wouldn't have happened," Glaude said. Why it matters: Because Juneteenth is not recognized as a holiday in a majority of states, many state employees across the country are not allowed to take a paid vacation day to observe the holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S.
That June 19 in 1865, the day we now celebrate as a nation, was the day that Black Texans officially received some of the stalest news in American history.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. She’d heard the testimonies of those who’d had to navigate both the tragedy of slavery and the terror of emancipation. I regret not asking more questions about our family, about her life in Pelham. As more folks in Clarice’s generation pass away, we are losing the final physical links to those who know our history — who are our history. Gen. Joseph Jones Reynolds, a commander of the Department of Texas during Reconstruction, commented in 1868, “The murder of Negroes is so common as to render it impossible to keep an accurate account of them.” The Equal Justice Initiative has tried, reporting that more than 2,000 Black women, men and children were victims of racial terrorist lynchings during Reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 to 1877. I was born in Texas, as were my parents and most of my kin, all the way back to at least the 19th century, when some of them were enslaved. We can do no better this Juneteenth than to spend time with the elders who are still with us. Most of all, I think of how each year, my cousin Rhodia Fay would rise before our congregation and recite James Weldon Johnson’s “The Crucifixion” a long dramatic poem detailing Christ’s murder. I don’t even have to explain the absurdity of the F.B.I. wishing us all a happy Martin Luther King’s Birthday. I was raised an evangelical Christian and sometimes think of all those Easter Sundays spent in church. If we got upset about some Juneteenth ice cream, imagine how those roughly 250,000 enslaved Texans must have felt when they found out they had been the victims of horrendous overtime fraud. Then I asked myself, how exactly should the whole nation celebrate a day like this? “Lemme know when the reparations check arrives.”
June 19 marks the day that Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, in 1865 and announced the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery. It ...
Both exaggerations I find deplorable, but my way is to push anything out to the edge, to see of what it is really made, so that Sula would be ‘a free woman.'” In lieu of stocking up on Walmart’s Juneteenth-themed ice cream, I’d like to offer this 1978 recording of legendary author Toni Morrison, who at the time was a single mom who had just published her third novel, Song of Solomon. It had taken two and a half years for news of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which legally freed enslaved people, to reach Galveston; it took 156 additional years for the US government to declare Juneteenth a federal holiday in this country, even though Black communities had celebrated the day for a century and a half.
The flag features stars and an arc, representing different aspects of Black emancipation. Many people still prefer to fly the Pan-African Flag, too.
Both flags are symbols of "pride and freedom" for Black Americans, but serve different purposes. So I thought it was important that the colors portray red, white and blue which we see in the American flag." It also represents a "new beginning" for the African American people who were freed in Galveston, per CNN. Using the same colors as the Star-Spangled Banner is a reminder that enslaved Black Americans were first and foremost American, he said. The flag, which has been revised twice since then, features three symbols in red, white, and blue, and the words: "June 19, 1865." While Juneteenth has been celebrated since 1866, it was only recognized as a federal holiday in June 2021.
Naya Tapper competes during the women's placing match against Team China at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on July 31, 2021 in Chofu, Tokyo, Japan. Embarrassingly ...
My people are still dealing with negligence and lack of freedom in this country in certain aspects of life so at times it is hard for me to truly enjoy this holiday and what it stands for. Thanks to one of my great teammates and social media, I was informed on what exactly Juneteenth was and why it was important to acknowledge and celebrate it. Junetenth has become very important to me in terms of celebrating my ancestors' official emancipation and admiring them and us for our perseverance despite all the adversities and hardships we have had to deal with.
Juneteenth may be the country's newest federal holiday, but for many Black Americans, June 19 has long been associated with homegrown community celebrations ...
A coalition of organizations are demanding that Biden create a federal commission by executive order to study reparations and the long-term effects of slavery. Now that it's a federal holiday, part of figuring out how to mark the day as a nation comes with educating the public about it. Are you giving decision making power to people who are representative of the community that this holiday is meant to honor?” “African Americans have always used these moments of memory to think about where the community has come from and what we’re pursuing and striving toward, as well as taking the time to pass down history and culture,” she said last year. The move prompted questions about who can even own the idea of Juneteenth, and the appropriateness of corporations cashing in on what could be considered a bittersweet holiday, commemorating the end of enslavement and the beginning of a generations-long struggle for civil rights. Many were angry to see the trademarked Juneteenth ice cream on shelves, developed with the help of a corporation that creates artificial flavors, and a children’s museum apologized after its Juneteenth menu included a watermelon salad.
The relatively new June federal holiday could bring about some inconveniences as you try to get things done on your day off.
The New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and bond markets are all closed Monday. Their next scheduled holiday is July 4. UPS will not make any ground, air, or international deliveries on the 19th—and most UPS stores will be closed. There won’t be any from the U.S. Postal Service. Mail delivery is suspended both that day and on Monday, when it is observed. The company will operate normally on Monday, however. Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19 each year. The day became known as Juneteenth and for a long time was only observed in Texas.
The annual Juneteenth Parade at Seaside Park in Bridgeport on Saturday, June 11, 2022.
Rather than a deeper understanding of the realities Black people have faced for the hundreds of years in America, too many white people have instead supported a backlash to any hint of progress. This can be seen in the condemnation of so-called Critical Race Theory, which is used by critics as a catch-all for nearly any discussion of race that might make people uncomfortable. That summer, coinciding with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, seemed to promise a new era of racial understanding and empathy.
OHIO — While many across the country are celebrating Juneteenth, the holiday has special significance in Ohio when it comes to the freedom of slaves.
“Texas was a part of those Confederate States. So adhering to a president that they did not acknowledge or pledge any allegiance did not impact them in that way,” Miller said. “But what it did was, it incentivized those who were enslaved to not only to fight vigorously for their own freedom but also to bear arms in that room to participate as Union forces.” That includes understanding that even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, there was a war going on between the United States and the Confederate States of America.
Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, on June 19, 1865, the last group of enslaved people learned of their freedom when the army declared 250,000 Texas ...
We want to continue to celebrate this day not only to celebrate they people that paved the way but also the people looking to lay the next path. As time goes on, more and more people are learning about the past and recognizing the work that was done so that we can live and operate the way we do. In 1980, over 100 years later, Texas recognized Juneteenth as an official holiday celebrated annually.
Juneteenth is officially known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, and historically as Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day and Emancipation Day.
Juneteenth’s designation as a public holiday has led to it becoming more widely known. Despite Juneteenth now being a public holiday, only 24 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed legislation allowing state employees to observe the day as a paid state holiday. The day became known as Juneteenth – a portmanteau of June and 19th.
A Mercer survey of 400 companies found that 33% of companies currently offer Juneteenth as a paid holiday to their employees, and an additional 11% say they ...
Part of the issue is retention: A report from Mercer found that the turnover rate for Black employees was 26%, compared to 17% for White employees. White and Hispanic Americans are less likely to have “a lot” or “some knowledge” about Juneteenth — the day enslaved Black people in Texas found out they were emancipated — a Gallup poll released last year found. Since President Joe Biden declared the day a federal holiday last year, more companies are giving the day off, but few are commemorating it with additional programming or philanthropy.
A historical context sheds some light. Juneteenth, also known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day was first celebrated by ...
Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Between 2020 and 2022, five states (Texas, New York, Virginia, Washington, and Illinois) made it a paid holiday for state employees. But this time real freedom for all. Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a state holiday. In 2002, eight other states joined Texas and Missouri followed suit in 2003. President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in January of 1863—two and half years earlier.