Juneteenth celebrates the day in 1865 when a Union Army general arrived in Texas with 2,000 soldiers and informed more than 250,000 Black Americans enslaved in Texas that slavery had been abolished following the conclusion of the Civil War.
This was 2 1/2 years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had declared that “all persons held as slaves…henceforward shall be free.” Emancipation was the first step of many that Black Americans would take in their struggle for equal rights, a struggle that is just as relevant today as it was from 1865-1965 (Jim Crow era), and following the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Juneteenth, our team is reflecting on the continuing struggles of Black Americans to live in freedom, with equal access to opportunity, healthcare and justice.
Tomorrow, join our friends across the community in celebrating this historic day:
