Tag: Juneteenth

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Juneteenth 2026 – Recognizing The Abolition Of Slavery

Juneteenth - Freedom Day

Join me in recognizing Juneteenth 2026 after the date was finally christened a federal holiday in 2021.

It was on June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved Black Americans (in Galveston, Texas) were notified by Union Civil War soldiers about the abolition of slavery – over two years after the final Emancipation Proclamation which freed all enslaved Black Americans. Continue reading “Juneteenth 2026 – Recognizing The Abolition Of Slavery”

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Juneteenth 2025 – Recognizing The Abolition Of Slavery

Juneteenth - Freedom Day

Join me in recognizing Juneteenth 2025 after the date was finally christened a federal holiday in 2021.

It was on June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved Black Americans (in Galveston, Texas) were notified by Union Civil War soldiers about the abolition of slavery – over two years after the final Emancipation Proclamation which freed all enslaved Black Americans. Continue reading “Juneteenth 2025 – Recognizing The Abolition Of Slavery”

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Recognizing The 1st Juneteenth As Federal Holiday

Juneteenth was finally made a federal holiday this year to observe this date in 1865, when word of emancipation finally reached enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Here’s to the work that still has to be done so that everyone is truly free in EVERY way, starting with the Voting Rights Act.

By the way – did you know Opal Lee, who fought for years for Juneteenth to be recognized as a federal holiday, is from my home town of Fort Worth, Texas?

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Biden Signs Bill Making Juneteenth A National Holiday

President Joe Biden signs a bill making Juneteenth a national holiday (image via POTUS)
I couldn’t possibly leave my desk without acknowledging this amazing moment in history at Juneteenth is now officially recognized as a national holiday. For years, people have acknowledged June 19 as the day the last remaining slaves in Texas were notified they’d been freed in 1865 – two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The holiday is the first to be established by Congress since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983.

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News Round-Up: June 15, 2021

(image via Twitter/RobertGarcia)
Some news items you might have missed: • Edge Media: Lawmakers in Hungary passed legislation Tuesday that prohibits sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment, something supporters said would help fight pedophilia but which human rights groups denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination. • NPR: The Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would make Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of chattel slavery in the United States, a legal public holiday. The holiday is celebrated on June 19, and it began in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned (years after the fact) they had been freed under the Emancipation Proclamation. • Out Music: In a loving tribute to Provincetown, Seth Sikes releases his latest music video, The Trolley Song. Sikes, a longtime interpreter of the songs of the great Judy Garland, performs this signature Garland song from her classic film Meet Me in St Louis. Backed by a full cast Sikes performs the much-loved song on location in Provincetown on the local trolley car. Sikes will perform live in Provincetown in July with his new show Seth Sikes Sings Judy and Liza and Barbra, etc. at the just refurbished Post Office Café and Cabaret.

• OUT: Country music fans should check out veteran journalist Hunter Kelly’s Proud Radio, a monthly two-hour show on the Apple Music Country channel highlighting queer artists, their evolution, and their influence in country music. • The Advocate: Arby’s management fired an employee in Lafayette, Indiana last week after the employee allegedly wrote the homophobic slur “fag” on a gay couple’s receipt. • Pink News: Long Beach’s iconic rainbow lifeguard tower (above) has been reborn after the original was burned down in March by vandals. Robert Garcia, the city’s first openly gay mayor, said the new tower provides an “immediate sense of pride and inclusion” for the city’s LGBT+ community.

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On The 155th Anniversary Of Juneteenth

Today is the 155th anniversary of the day Union troops delivered federal orders freeing all previously enslaved people in Texas. The Lone Star state was the last to receive the news of emancipation two years after the fact. Juneteenth, as the holiday became known, is a time to honor and reflect on the history, independence, and resilience of the Black community in America. This year’s observance carries particular weight in light of national protests calling out the brutality and systemic racism that still exists specifically in police departments across the country. The murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Dion Johnson, and so many others underscore in stark terms the fight for Black lives, for justice, and for racial equality is far from over. Sadly, we live in a time when many of the nation’s leaders, like Donald Trump, reveal their ignorance on the history of Juneteenth. After receiving pushback for scheduling a campaign rally on this date in Tulsa, Oklahoma – the site of the deadly massacre that left 300 Black Americans dead 99 years ago – Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that no one had ever heard of the historic date before he scheduled his rally. “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Trump told the Journal. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.” The Journal added that Trump “paused the interview to ask an aide if she had heard of Juneteenth, and she pointed out that the White House had issued a statement last year commemorating the day.” “Oh really? We put out a statement?” responded Trump, apparently surprised by the news. “The Trump White House put out a statement? OK, OK. Good.” Note: Having grown up in Texas, I’ve been aware of Juneteenth since I was a small child. As we move forward, please consider supporting the NAACP, Black Lives Matter Action Fund, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Any donation, large or small, can help these important advocacy groups in their efforts to end systemic racism and move closer to attaining justice and equality for the Black community.