From: Friends Committee on National Legislation
By Bridget Moix
Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last. – Martin Luther King Jr. 1963
On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were finally informed that they were free, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was the last state in the country to receive word of the proclamation and make good on its promise. The freedom declaration sparked celebration among the formally enlsaved and the local holiday of Juneteenth was born.
Juneteenth is a reminder that none of us are free until all of us are free and that our country’s journey toward democracy and freedom for all continues.
Today, Juneteenth, is our newest federal holiday. It celebrates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. It lifts the struggles … CLICK HERE TO READ MORE