Hello, Wonderful People
I pray that you are doing well as we move into the summer season. Today, June 19th is an important day for two reasons. First, it is my mother’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Muddy! She has been looking down on me from heaven since 1994. I love her and I miss her!
Emancipation Day celebration in Richmond, Virginia, 1905
Today is also the day known as JUNETEENTH.
Juneteenth Flag
Missouri Emancipation Proclamation, 1865. Missouri Historical Society Collections.
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is the oldest holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth combines June and nineteen together.
“Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Cel-Liberation Day, or the Black Fourth of July, is an American holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865. Texas was the most remote of the slave states, and the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, was not enforced there until after the Civil War had ended.”
Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation but it took two and a half years for Lieutenant Granger to announce order number 3 because Texas had few Union troops after the Civil War had ended so it was a slow process for the order to be given that enslaved people were free. After the long period, Lieutenant Granger read to the people of Texas General Order, no 3.
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”
Everyone wasn’t free. Sometime after that other states followed suit to free enslaved people until December 6, 1865.
“The Mascogos, the descendants of Black Seminoles, who have resided in Coahuila, Mexico since 1852, also celebrate Juneteenth. (via Wikipedia)”
Texas has celebrated Juneteenth as a state holiday since 1980; while my home state of Missouri has recognized it since 2003. I must admit I have never heard much publicity about it until now and it’s good to see. It may be a holiday in Missouri, but I can say that it has not been celebrated in any official kind of way. There are a few local celebrations in the Gateway City, but with no emphasis on its significance. As I am writing this, I am reading that Saint Louis City and Saint Louis County will begin to recognize Junteenth as a paid holiday for its employees. Saint Louis County started this year, while Saint Louis City will begin next year.
There is now talk to make Juneteenth a national holiday. I believe that this would be a giant step forward in healing the wounds of slavery that has plagued our country from the beginning. The holiday would allow people to understand the evils of slavery, the complexity of the Civil War, and the joys of freedom.
This is a Freedom day and a reason to celebrate. As I am writing, I hear fireworks and see colors so vibrant in the sky.
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