Celebrate Juneteenth All Across America

June 19th, 2008 in memory making, holidays

Michaela Murphy, editor

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It took over two and a half years from the time of Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation for the news to spread: slavery had finally ended. Of course rumors of freedom were widespread, but it wasn't until General Granger read the official executive order in Galveston TX on June 19th that people began to really believe that they were in fact free.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is the oldest nationally celebrated day to commemorate the end of slavery. June 19th is now a day of observation and celebration in over 29 states with many more states engaged in active campaigns to join the rest of the nation in honoring our freedom. Beginning today throughout the weekend there are Juneteenth parades, festivals, concerts, and special reading and events to celebrate how far we've come and to acknowledge how far we have to go.

posted in: memory making, holidays, juneteenth

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Comments (3)

ShiningStar writes: My area did have events but we couldn't go. Maybe next year.
There's talk of making it a national holiday. Posted: 5:22 pm on June 23rd

MichaelaMurphy writes: My pleasure. Did you do anything special for Juneteenth? Posted: 8:45 am on June 20th

ShiningStar writes: Thanks for posting about this. Definetly something everyone should know about. Posted: 8:39 pm on June 19th

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