06/19/2026
On June 19, 1865, more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas finally got the news that they were free, more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. That is why we call it Freedom Day.
It became a federal holiday in 2021, thanks to activists like Opal Lee, who campaigned for decades to make it official.
Today we remember that history and the lessons it still holds for every classroom, like this one on the meaning of emancipation:https://teachdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/emancipation-day-past-and-present.pdf
Happy Juneteenth.