CLEVELAND, Ohio- Today, Sat., June 19, is the Juneteenth National Independence Day Holiday, which is historically known as Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day, and Emancipation Day, a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.
In short, Juneteenth is the celebration of the full emancipation of slaves in the U.S.
This year's Juneteenth celebrations, from dancing to music to poetry and cultural events, and even Civil Rights protests, come on the heels of passage by Congress of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, federal legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law on June 17 that makes Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Originating in Galveston, Texas, Jueenteenth has been celebrated annually on June 19 in various parts of the United States since 1866.
Its commemoration is on the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865 announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas
Although the Emancipation Proclamation declared an end to slavery in the Confederate States, slavery was still legal and practiced in two Union border states – Delaware and Kentucky – until December 6, 1865, when ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished chattel slavery nationwide.
Juneteenth celebrations first involved church-centered community gatherings in Texas and later spread across the South, becoming more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s and often centering on a food festival. (Source: Wikipedia)
