What is JUNETEENTH?
Also called EMANCIPATION Day, FREEDOM Day or JUBILEE Day, Juneteenth is the commemoration of June 19, 1865, the day enslaved AFRICAN AMERICANS in GALVESTON, TEXAS, USA, learned that they were FREE.
While President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it only applied to people in Confederate states, not those enslaved in Union-held territories (they were not freed until the proclamation of the 13th Amendment). In Texas, a Confederate state where there was no large Union Army presence, slavery continued years after the Emancipation Proclamation — and even after the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 — as many enslaved people in the state were not aware of the news. Finally in June of 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas to tell the enslaved African Americans living there that the Civil War had ended and that they were now free.
JUNETEENTH has its OWN FLAG.
The original Juneteenth flag was created in 1997 by the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation (NJCF) founder, Ben Haith. While the Juneteenth flag has the same colors as the American flag, it is a unique symbol of American freedom and Black history.
PHOTO: The Juneteenth flag, before it underwent revisions in the 2000s.
The original red, white and blue design later underwent revisions in the 2000s, and the date June 19, 1865, was added to the flag. According to the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, the Juneteenth flag includes an exaggerated STAR OF TEXAS “bursting with NEW FREEDOM throughout the land.”
JUNETEENTH is a USA FEDERAL HOLIDAY.
While Juneteenth has been celebrated since the late 1800s, it was not legally recognized as a national holiday until June 17, 2021, when President JOE BIDEN SIGNED A BILL OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED JUNE 19 as the 11th USA FEDERAL HOLIDAY commemorating the END OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA. Over the decades, many states recognized Juneteenth, BUT NOT ALL OBSERVED IT AS AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY. but not all observed it as an official holiday. For example, in 1980, Democratic state representative Al Edwards and the Texas Legislature made Juneteenth an official state holiday.
With the Renewed Assurances of my Highest Consideration.
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Dr. Shamir Andrew Ally, PhD., MBA, FAIA (UK), DTM.
- Guyana’s SECOND Ambassador to KUWAIT 2016-2020
- FIRST Alternate GOVERNOR, Islamic Development Bank, SAUDI ARABIA, 2017-2020
- Deputy Chairman, Board of Directors, GO-Invest, The Guyana Office for Investment, February 2016 to December 2019.