While observed for more than 150 years, Juneteenth is actually the newest recognized American holiday on the calendar. It wasn’t until June of 2021 that President Biden signed the legislation officially establishing June 19 as ‘Juneteenth’, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
This date and holiday serve as a focus for what previously was known by many as Emancipation Day. Even though President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 of 1863 which gave freedom to more than three million slaves living in the Confederacy, it took more than two years for the state of Texas to recognize the abolition of slavery.
On June 19, 1865, former slaves in Texas celebrated their freedom and ‘Juneteenth’ was born.
Juneteenth is a perfect day to celebrate not only freedom, but life itself. Holidays like this should connect us, draw us together, and bond us as human beings.
This is a day when we should recognize our commonality, not our differences. It is a day when we should celebrate each other.
Because, the more we get in-tune, engaged and recognize the ties that bring us together, the more we learn to overlook our differences and appreciate the humanity that exists in all of us.
Murph