BY LISA FRENCH

Today is the third official celebration of Juneteenth, a milestone in African American History. President Biden signed the holiday into law in 2021 after a heavy push by the African American community. Though the celebration is not new, making Juneteenth a federal holiday is helping it gain popularity.

The cruelty of Black History

On January 1, 1863, as the U.S. civil war—with the debate about the end of slavery at the core of it—was about to enter its third year, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared free all persons held as slaves. The earth-shaking news triggered understandable jubilation among enslaved men and women who gathered in churches awaiting the news. However, the president’s decree could not be implemented in states under the control of the rebellious states, the westernmost Confederate state of Texas being one of those.

Good news on the way

On January 31, 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States. Two months later, General Robert Lee, the commander of the Confederate army, surrendered. Within two months of the defeat of the Confederate army, General Gordon Granger of the Union army, leading some 2,000 Union troops, arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and informed the approximately 250,000 enslaved people in the state of Texas that they were free. The newly freed men, women and children named the day “Juneteenth.” It also came to be known as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” and “Emancipation Day.”

Even before becoming a federal holiday, Juneteenth was celebrated nationwide throughout the Black community. It is marked with prayers and family gatherings, including pilgrimages to Galveston, Texas by formerly enslaved people and their families. Over the years, Black leaders pushed hard to make it a federal holiday. The permanent injustice inflicted on the Black community, as exemplified by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the summer of 2020, triggered massive multiracial protests nationwide despite the Corona virus pandemic and gave the fight new impetus. It led to President Biden signing legislation making June 19, a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

A relentless fighter and torchbearer

A retired teacher, 96-year-old activist Opal Lee, a native of Texas, has led the movement leading to making Juneteenth a national holiday. Every June 19th, the woman known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth” leads a 2.5 miles march in memory of the historical landmark. The number 2.5 symbolizes the two and a half years it took for Texan slaves to be free after the Emancipation Proclamation. Lee also encourages African Americans in other parts of the country to mark the occasion by organizing their own marches to underscore the notion that “we are not yet free,” and raise awareness about the importance of understanding that freedom is for everyone.

On this day, Monday June 19, 2023, “the grandmother of Juneteenth” led hundreds of people, despite the scorching heat, in her traditional Walk for Freedom.

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