Juneteenth Blog
Hello Rising Hearts community,
JUNETEENTH | FREEDOM DAY | 1865
Indigenous solidarity and love for Black brothers and sisters. Reminder to Indigenous relatives, support your Black Indigenous kin. Celebrate Black history, voices, culture l, their resilience, and support Black owned businesses, artists, organizers and advocates!
- Rising Hearts
About Juneteenth:
June 19th, 1865 is the day when 2,000 Union troops came to Galveston TX and reached the last group of enslaved people in Texas to ensure they were freed. The Emancipation Proclamation happened 2.5 years prior on January 1, 1863, but many enslavers continued to enslave Black people and held them captive after the announcement. Full legal abolishment didn’t happen until December 1865 through the 13th Amendment, which still allowed “slavery” as a form of punishment, like the criminal justice system we see today. June 19th, Juneteenth, has become symbolic to represent freedom and Black liberation - that is still fought for to this day.
The year following 1865, freedmen in TX organized the first annual celebration called "Jubilee Day " June 19th. Following this celebration, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, bbqs, prayer services, and other activities, as Black people migrated from TX to other parts of the country as the Juneteenth tradition began to spread.
Congress passed a bill, making June 19 - Juneteenth a National Independence Day, federal holiday. Celebrations have been happening for a long time, before this ever became recognized by the Government. And this is a day of joy and to center, while still fighting racism and the systems of oppression that the government continues to perpetuate. Support Black voices, organizers, artists, creatives, musicians, athletes, teachers, lawyers, friends, and the Black community. Uplift. Protect. Respect. Don't be performative. Show Up everyday, not just on Juneteenth.
