What Juneteenth Means to you:
Juneteenth commemorates the events of June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Tex., to inform enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Granger’s news came two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House and more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Long celebrated in African American communities—particularly in the South—Juneteenth did not become a federal holiday until 2021, following a national reckoning on race precipitated by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other Black Americans as well as nationwide protests against police brutality.
Also known as “Emancipation Day,” “Freedom Day,” and the nation’s “second Independence Day,” Juneteenth means different things to different people. For many, it is a time to gather with family and friends. For others, it’s a time to reflect on the work that remains to be done addressing institutional racism and systemic inequality.
