Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and the fight for its fulfillment. It is known as one of the oldest known celebrations commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. The city of Holly Springs will begin the celebration with a parade Saturday, June 18 at 12 noon. Family fun will include face painting, cake walk, free dental supplies, Bomba socks, and live entertainment by Bird Williams, Symiah, Dre Walker, Amanda C and Kyia King.

I’ve learned, through studying about this newly named federally holiday as of June 17, 2021, that on June 19, 1865 Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War was over and that the enslaved people there, around 250,000, were now free. The orders read. “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with the 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 freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported by idleness either there or elsewhere.”

Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on June 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” (within the rebellious states) “are fee and henceforward shall be free?” The Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways because it only applied to the states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal bordered states. It also only was enforced in the Confederate States liberated by Union Troops. This did not include Texas.

The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate April 8, 1864 and by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865 and it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. But even though all this had taken place it was not until April 9, 1865, in the home of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, that United States General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee met where General Lee signed the surrender.

Though slaves were lawfully freed they were far from being free. In some accounts they were punished for trying to take advantage of their new rights. Some were shot and hung. It took some time before the law was actually received by some.

It has been 157 years since the June 19, 1865, when the Union General Granger led his troops into Galveston, Texas, to announce the good news, thus making Juneteenth, coined by blending the words June and 19th, became a day of celebration. Every year June 19th is a time of year were families gathered and measured progress against freedom and during this time people taught the younger generations the importance of self-improvement. At some celebrations they read the Emancipation Proclamation, some hear sermons, share meals and play games. So let us celebrate Juneteenth by remembering the past and moving toward the future to evolved an absolute equality of personal rights and grow as a free nation.