2018 -
JUNETEENTH, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day; Winston Churchill famously quipped that “America always does the right thing...after it tries everything else. Juneteenth
is an American holiday that celebrates our finally getting this part
right. It commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition
of slavery in the state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of
enslaved African-Americans throughout the former Confederacy of the
southern United States. Its name is a portmanteau of "June" and
"nineteenth", the date of its celebration.
Juneteenth is only recognized as a state holiday or special
day of observance in forty-five states, and primarily in local
celebrations. Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation
Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as "Swing Low Sweet
Chariot" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and reading of works by noted
African-American writers such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou.
Celebrations may include rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family
reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, and Miss Juneteenth
contests. The Macogos descendants of Black Seminoles of Coahulla, Mexico
also celebrate the Juneteenth.
In 1996 the first legislation to recognize "Juneteenth
Independence Day" was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives,
H.J. Res. 195, sponsored by Barbara Rose Collins (D-MI). In 1997
Congress recognized the day through Senate Joint Resolution 11 and House
Joint Resolution 56. In 2013 the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution
175, acknowledging Lula Briggs Galloway (late president of the National
Association of Juneteenth Lineage) who "successfully worked to bring
national recognition to Juneteenth Independence Day", and the continued
leadership of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. In 2018
Apple added Juneteenth to its calendars in iOS under official US
holidays.
On June 15, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing
Juneteenth as a federal holiday; it subsequently passed through
the House of Representatives by a 415–14 vote on June 16. President Joseph Biden signed the bill on
June 17, 2021, making Juneteenth the eleventh American federal holiday
and the first to obtain legal observance as a federal holiday
since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designated in 1983.
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