Across the United States on Thursday, June 19, Americans celebrated the federal holiday commemorating the day the last group of enslaved African Americans were informed they were free.
The day, dubbed Juneteenth, reflects on a moment when the promise of freedom first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence became a reality for more of its citizens.
In 2021, then-President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. It officially named the holiday that has been long celebrated by Black people and beyond with dancing, parades, ceremonies and historical reenactments.
The holiday marks the date in 1865 – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation – that Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union Army troops came to Galveston Bay, Texas, to proclaim freedom for more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state.
This year's celebrations took place across the country, with the lessons of history as important as ever.
