Juneteenth: In Celebration of Liberty

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, became effective on January 1, 1863. The Proclamation declared, in part, that all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free…. Yet, in Texas, the most remote of the slave states, with little Union presence, the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was slow and inconsistent. On June 19, 1865, almost two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation became effective, Union General Gordon Granger, read the federal orders in Galveston, Texas, announcing and confirming that “all enslaved people (including in Texas) were free.”

Beginning in 1866, freed African Americans in Texas began commemorating the end of slavery with annual “Freedom Day” celebrations. Since then, in recognition of liberation from slavery, “Juneteenth” (also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day and Cel-Liberation Day) is celebrated annually on June 19th. While Juneteenth has been celebrated in America for over a century, it was during the Civil Rights movement that Juneteenth gained prominence in many States as a celebration to commemorate freedom from slavery.  Then, in 1980, the Texas legislature made June 19th (“Juneteenth”) an official state holiday. Currently, 46 states and the District of Columbia identify June 19th as a holiday or a day of observance.

Liberty is often defined as the power to act as one chooses and the state of being free. Being free, with the power and ability to act as one chooses, is often taken for granted these days. Yet, history serves as a powerful reminder that the “power to act as one chooses” or the “state of being free” should not be taken for granted because it has not always been a given.