The importance of Juneteenth
Something I just learned by watching a video on DemocracyNow about Juneteenth. All the history that I had heard about this holiday was that some people in Galveston only were told slavery was over on that date. According to the research shared in the book written by Clint Smith, from the New Orleans area, I was proud to hear, was that the history has not been shared and is still not understood correctly. There was a whole system around this holiday that needs to be know.
The news is known to have not gotten to all the former slaves until something like 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. However, there is more to the story. The proclamation only freed slaves in slave states that had been defeated by the north.
There were still slaves in Texas and other states. They were not freed until two years later when the army of the United States entered that state to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. And some states in the north still had slaves. So Juneteenth is what actually freed the slaves nation-wide, not President Lincoln’s decree so it is more than logical that this event should be a national holiday to celebrate the REAL end of slavery nationwide..
I would suggest a look at Opal Lee, who was the spearhead of getting Juneteenth more publically known and celebrated. Her recent ancestors (like father or grandfather) was freed by the Juneteenth event and she made it her life goal to get it taught and celebrated.
