Post Date: June 19, 2024

This year, 2024, Juneteenth is being celebrated this day Wednesday June 19th. While Juneteenth has been unofficially celebrated for more than two centuries, in 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, to make it the 11th federal holiday.

It is considered the “longest-running African-American holiday” and is known to some in the United States as the country's “second Independence Day or Juneteenth Independence Day.” The holiday marks the end of slavery in Texas at the end of the Civil War. While most slaves received their freedom after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Texas had to wait more than 2.5 years later to receive their freedom – on June 19, 1865 when the Union Army arrived in Galveston ordering that slavery end in the “lone Star State.”

The name “Juneteenth” references the date of the holiday, combining the words “June” and “nineteenth.” It is also called “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day” (among other names).

Many Black people celebrate Juneteenth with a flag that is red, black and green. Red is a prominent color in Juneteenth celebrations. It symbolizes the shed blood of enslaved Black people. Serve a pitcher of strawberry punch or soda—the unofficial drink of Juneteenth—or hibiscus tea at your celebration.

Ms. Opal Lee, aka "Grandmother of Juneteenth" joined President Biden to officially make Juneteenth a National Holiday in 2021. Three years later, President Biden honored Opal Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, on Friday, May 3, 2024.

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