Celebrating Juneteenth
Happy Juneteenth from Utopia Global Wellness!
Juneteenth – also known as Freedom Day – is date the commemorates when the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. First observed in Galveston, Texas, where on June 19, 1865, the last of the enslaved were informed of their freedom over two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Did you know these 5 facts about Juneteenth?
✨Fact #1: Following the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, not all enslaved people immediately found freedom.
The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in states then in rebellion against the United States. Union troops operating in said states gave teeth to the Proclamation. This, however, did not apply to the border states.
✨Fact #2: The Civil War ended in the summer of 1865. Union General Gordon Granger and his troops traveled to Galveston, Texas to announce General Orders No. 3 on June 19, 1865. June 19th would go on to be known and celebrated as Juneteenth.
✨Fact #3: Juneteenth has been celebrated under many names.
Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Cel-Liberation Day, Second Independence Day, and Emancipation Day to name just a few.
✨Fact #4: Celebrations of Juneteenth continue today.
Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs, and reading of works by noted African American writers. Celebrations can also take the form of historical tours, readings, festivals, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, reenactments, and even Miss Juneteenth contests.
✨Fact #5: On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which officially made Juneteenth a federal holiday.
This holiday is the first holiday to be approved since President Ronald Reagan signed a 1983 bill that approved Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.
