Celebrating Freedom at the Federal Level, Juneteenth Commemorated as New Holiday

June 17, 2021 – Our nation’s leaders have come together to establish and pass legislation recognizing Juneteenth as a federal holiday to be celebrated today. HECHO applauds this bipartisan recognition that honors a tremendously meaningful day where enslaved Black Americans were told that they were free.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce the news that enslaved Black Americans were finally free. We cannot fail to mention that this announcement came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. We uphold the questions that OutdoorAfro poses, “Why didn’t this announcement happen sooner?” “Why didn’t the slave holders tell the enslaved?” “Why didn’t the sheriff tell the enslaved?” “Why didn’t the mayor tell the enslaved?” “Why didn’t the governor tell the enslaved?” We acknowledge that for far too long, systems of power have benefitted and profited from Black labor at the expense of these communities. Though Juneeteenth celebrates freedom, it is necessary for us to reflect on the ways in which we ourselves uphold outdated systems of oppression, and that there is still work to be done to ensure that racial equity and justice prevails.

HECHO applauds the members of Congress who worked hard for this recognition, as well as the bipartisanship accomplished to commemorate this historic day.