Happy Juneteenth!!!
June 19 or Juneteenth marks the day of freedom for Black Americans in the United States. More than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform General Gordon Grander, U.S. Army officer and Union general, about the Proclamation. On June 19, 1895, Granger issued General Order No. 3 enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation setting all Confederate states’ enslaved people free.
General Order Number 3 began most significantly with:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”
Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of ending slavery in the United States. Today, Juneteenth is a federal holiday. President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, S. 475, into law on June 18, 2021 – the first federal holiday approved since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1986. Juneteenth celebrations have spread across the nation, educating, reflecting, and rejoicing Black American freedom and dignity.
The Juneteenth flag was designed by Ben Haith and Lisa Jeanne Graf in 1997 and first flown in 2000.
The Juneteenth Flag represents:
Colors – represent the United States and serve as a reminder that enslaved people and their descendants were and are Americans.
Curve – A new horizon, the opportunity, and promise for Black Americans after freedom.
White Star – represents Texas, the Lone Star State, and the last people to be freed from enslavement in the 50 states.
The starburst is a nova or new star – a new beginning for all Black Americans.
