Every American should jump and shout as loudly for Juneteenth as we do for the Fourth of July.
If we’re being honest, a lot of Black people don’t know much about Juneteenth. It hasn’t been one of the nation’s most celebrated holidays, and for a long time, many people tried to keep this whole emancipation thing a secret.
It took slaves way down in the deep South more than two years to learn they were free … at least on paper. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1,1863. Slaves in Galveston, Texas, found out on June 19, 1865.Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration on June 19, 1900, in Texas.
Texas actually was the leader in the social justice movement to commemorate the day 250,000 people suddenly learned their bondage was over. It became the first state to make Juneteenth a holiday in 1980.in some form or fashion, but the federal government passed legislation to recognize it as a holiday only last year.
Something that should be a cause for universal jubilation has been a well-kept national secret for generations in our region and throughout the country. Kimeka Campbell of Harrisburg is executive director of the Young Professionals of Color. June 9, 2022. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com