06/19/2026
Today we celebrate Juneteenth! Juneteenth honors the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865 the Civil War was finally over and Union Army General Gordon Granger announced the General Order No. 3, which informed those who were enslaved in Texas that they were free.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation had been put into place 2.5 years earlier on January 1, 1863, enslaved folks in Texas were finally informed that they were free on June 19, 1865. This began the celebration of Juneteenth where former enslaved people celebrated their new freedom with prayer, feasting, song, and dance. Juneteenth is now a federal holiday in the United States!
Today, we celebrate this day as a day of freedom, African American liberation, honor Black culture and history. However, this is not the end. The demand for justice and progress must continue as we honor those who fought for their freedom and inspired us to stand against injustice