What's the story behind Juneteenth
Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th and commemorates the arrival of Union troops in Galveston, Texas, following the end of the Civil War, marking the effective end of slavery in the United States more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor."
The moment was significant. Texas had been a holdout state where enslavement continued, despite President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery two years before, in 1863, and the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the US Constitution. The 13th Amendment passed on Jan. 31, 1865.
Since then, Americans have observed and celebrated Juneteenth as Emancipation Day, a day of freedom.
Emancipation Day in 1900.
At right, Civil War re-enactors in a Juneteenth celebration at the Atlanta Cyclorama
and Civil War Museum in Atlanta, in 2014.
Credit...via Austin History Center, Austin Public Library; Associated Press
Juneteenth Has Evolved Over the Years
The national reckoning over race ignited by the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police helped set the stage for Juneteenth to become the first new federal holiday since 1983, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and had 60 co-sponsors, a show of bipartisan support as lawmakers struggled to overcome divisions that are still simmering three years later.
Now there is a movement to use the holiday as an opportunity for activism and education, with community service projects aimed at addressing racial disparities and educational panels on topics such health care inequities and the need for parks and green spaces.
Like most holidays, Juneteenth has also seen its fair share of commercialism. Retailers, museums and other venues have capitalized on it by selling Juneteenth-themed T-shirts, party ware and ice cream. Some of the marketing has misfired, provoking a social media backlash.
How is Juneteenth Celebrated Today
Supporters of the holiday have also worked to make sure Juneteenth celebrators don’t forget why the day exists.
“In 1776 the country was freed from the British, but the people were not all free,” Dee Evans, national director of communications of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, said in 2019. “June 19, 1865, was actually when the people and the entire country was actually free.”
There’s also sentiment to use the day to remember the sacrifices that were made for freedom in the United States — especially in these racially and politically charged days.
Today, Juneteenth is celebrated in much the same way that it was when it first began—with parades, church services, music festivals, performances, rodeos, cookouts, pageants, and other public events. Red food and drink are common as an homage to African narratives and West African traditions.
"It really exemplifies the survival instinct, the ways that we as a community really make something out of nothing. ... It's about empowerment and hopefulness."
Margaret Bond Credo
“I Believe”
In 1964, Margaret Bonds wrote this intimate yet infinitely powerful piece of music, inspired by the words of W.E.B. Du Bois' "Credo." The feel of these notes under my fingers reminds me to reflect on the struggles and triumphs that came before us and also urges me to look ahead at the brightness of what can come next. I've put out a call to young people across the United States, asking them to share what they believe in, to create a "Credo" for our present, a design for our future.
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