Juneteenth

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Juneteenth Facts & Quotes

• The national Juneteenth theme is Together we will see Juneteenth become a national day of observance in America!
• According to the International Labor Organization, almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor today, 11+ million women and girls and 9+ million men and boys.
• Juneteenth is an official state holiday in Texas, meaning that Texans do not work.
• Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and Nineteenth in reference to the date that slaves were freed in Texas.
• 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 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 in idleness either there or elsewhere - General Gordon Granger, Major General of the United States Army, Issued June 19, 1865.
• ...I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons - US President Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863

Juneteenth Top Events and Things to Do

• Read the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation, issued by President Lincoln, declared all persons held as slaves within any State... shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free
• Visit the Whitney Plantation, America's first slavery museum, to learn about impact of slavery in Southern America. The museum contains exhibits, artwork, restored buildings and first-person slave narratives about the lives of those enslaved in Louisiana.
• Sing traditional Juneteenth songs. These include Swing low, Swing Chariot, and Lift Every Voice and Sing.
• Attend the annual Juneteenth Emancipation Celebration at Emancipation Park, Houston Texas.
• Attend a Juneteenth Musical Festival. These are held across the United States; great ones can be found in Denver, Berkeley and Atlanta

Juneteenth References and Related Sites