Celebrating Juneteenth

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Officially recognized as a national holiday by President Biden in 2021, Juneteenth commemorates the eradication of slavery in the United States.

Over a century before the Revolutionary War, 20 enslaved Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, beginning an unforgivable era of the dehumanization and grotesque mistreatment of more than 12 million men, women, and children.

On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. This, however was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect January, 1863. This day, the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, has become a day for African Americans to celebrate not only their freedom, but their history, culture and achievements.

US Government Publishing Office

Juneteenth celebrate freedom banner

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” 

-Martin Luther King

On this Juneteenth, and during the 364 days surrounding it, we must strive to come together, embracing our differences, our unique origins, and the common connection we all share as human beings.

 
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