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Juneteenth commemorates the day that enslaved Texans found out - more than two years after Emancipation Day - that they were free. It's also a day known for celebratory meals and red drinks. And the holiday, originally celebrated mostly in Texas, is gaining popularity around the country; in fact, on June 15, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill that would make Juneteenth a legal public holiday.

But as the Juneteenth becomes more widespread, we wondered: Is there a risk that certain people (and corporations) will try to keep the food and lose the meaning?

Plus: In this week's episode of the podcast, you'll hear Code Switch correspondent Karen Grigsby Bates and food historian Rafia Zafar reference some of their favorite Black cookbooks. So we put together a list of some classics, which blend together recipes and African American history.
This week's guests:

Rafia Zafar, professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning

Chris Williams, chef and owner of Lucille's Restaurant in Houston, Tex., and the founder of the nonprofit Lucille's 1913

Want to learn more?
The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Reed-Gordon wrote a book called On Juneteenth, and talked to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the historical legacy of the holiday, including in her own family.

"Black Joy-Not Corporate Acknowledgment-Is the Heart of Juneteenth" is the argument Wellesley professor Kellie Carter Jackson made last summer for the Atlantic, after lots of companies and states recognized the day as a holiday for the first time during 2020's "racial reckoning."

And, if Karen's discovery of Juneteenth recipes on Betty Crocker's website intrigued you, here's where you can find it.
This episode was produced by Summer Thomad and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Leah Donnella. Original art by LA Johnson.

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Juneteenth commemorates the day that enslaved Texans found out - more than two years after Emancipation Day - that they were free. It's also a day known for celebratory meals and red drinks. But as the holiday becomes more widespread, we wondered: Is there a risk that certain people (and corporations) will try to keep the food and lose the history?

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Listen to this episode from Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi on Spotify. Host Ibram X. Kendi expounds the history and legacy of Juneteenth, and what the day means to him. He passes the mic to Annette Gordon-Reed, Heather McGhee, Adam Serwer, Tiya Miles and Maurice Carlos Ruffin, who share how this day in American history shows up in their lives.

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A year after protests for racial justice swept the nation, propelling conversations on how to improve conditions for Black lives, the country is getting ready to celebrate the 158th anniversary of one of its earliest liberation moments: Juneteenth.

A portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth," Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when a group of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that they were free from the institution of slavery. But, woefully, this was almost two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. As much as Juneteenth represents freedom, it also represents howemancipation was tragically delayed for enslaved people in the deepest reaches of the Confederacy.

The first Juneteenth in 1866 was celebrated with food, singing, and the reading of spirituals - and it commemorated newly freed Black peopletaking pride in their progress.Today, Juneteenth celebrations span the world, with the global diaspora adopting the day as one to recognize emancipation at large.

After being largely ignored in schools, recognition of the day has also grown in recent years, especially amid a climate seeking justice for Black lives - a Gallup poll in 2021 found most Americans now know about Juneteenth, which is now a national holiday.

As the American public continues to grapple with how to talk about slavery and its enduring consequences, the national recognition of Juneteenth is at least a start to acknowledging the harmful way America was built and the foundational contributions of the enslaved.

Setting the foundation for Juneteenth

Often referred to as the Second American Revolution, the Civil War began in 1861 between northern and southern states over slavery and economic power. A year into the war, the US Congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1862, which authorized Union troops to seize Confederate property, including enslaved people. (The act also allowed the Union army to recruit Black soldiers.) Months later, on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln affirmed the aims of the act by issuing the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. The document declared that "all persons held as slaves ... are, and henceforth, shall be free."

While the proclamation legally liberated millions of enslaved people in the Confederacy, it exempted those in the Union-loyal border states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky. These states held Confederate sympathies and could have seceded; Lincoln exempted them from the proclamation to prevent this. A year later, in April 1864, the Senate attempted to close this loophole by passing the 13th Amendment, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude in all states, Union and Confederate. But the amendment wouldn't be enacted by ratification until December 1865. In other words, it took two years for the emancipation of enslaved people to materialize legally.

Not to mention, the ratification happened after the Civil War had alreadyended - in April 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia. Enslaved people in Texas, meanwhile, didn't learn about their freedom until three months later. On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union army arrived in Galveston and issued General Order No. 3 that secured the Union army's authority over Texas. The order stated the following:

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 personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts, and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

Still, even under Order No. 3, as historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. noted, freedom wasn't automatic for Texas's 250,000 enslaved people. "On plantations, masters had to decide when and how to announce the news - or wait for a government agent to arrive - and it was not uncommon for them to delay until after the harvest," he wrote.

Emancipation came gradually for many enslaved people, the culmination of a century of American abolition efforts, North and South. And even still, the formerly enslaved were viewed as chattel that merely existed to work and produce.

Juneteenth symbolized hope - that was quickly quashed

According to Gates, newly freed Black women and men rallied around Juneteenth in the first year it was recognized, transforming it from a "day of unheeded military orders into their own annual rite."

The first Juneteenth celebration took place in 1866 in Texas with community gatherings, including sporting events, cookouts, prayers, dances, parades, and the singing of spirituals like "Many Thousands Gone" and "Go Down Moses." Some events even featured fireworks, which involved filling trees with gunpowder and setting them on fire.

At the core of the celebrations was a desire to record group gains since emancipation, "an occasion for gathering lost family members, measuring progress against freedom and inculcating rising generations with the values of self-improvement and racial uplift," Gates wrote.

Communities would read the Emancipation Proclamation as part of the tradition, which was especially significant during Reconstruction, when the holiday reinforced hope. Reconstruction (1863-1890) was a time to rebuild the Southern economy and society through the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments - which gave Black people freedom, due process, and the right to vote - Black-run Southern governments, and the work of the Freedmen's Bureau, among other efforts.

But the goals of Reconstruction were consistently countered by white supremacists. For example, Democratic Congress members awarded Republican Rutherford B. Hayes the 1876 presidential election in exchange for the withdrawal of Union troops from the South, according to historian Richard M. Valelly's The Two Reconstructions: The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement. After Hayes's win, leaders at the state and local levels "weakened black voting in the South by means of gerrymandering, violence, and intimidation," Valelly wrote.

Then in 1890, Mississippians drafted a white supremacist state constitution to disenfranchise local Black people; it included provisions that required people to be able to read and understand all parts of the state constitution in order to vote, according to the New York Times. This barred thousands of illiterate Black people from voting in the 1890s.

Meanwhile, the Federal Elections Bill, or Lodge Bill, to oversee Southern elections failed in the summer of 1890, effectively closing the last window for national voting rights jurisprudence for decades to come. This signaled the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of Jim Crow. "Once black southerners were disenfranchised by the early 1900s, the stage was set for a systematic entrenchment of white supremacist norms and public policies," Valelly wrote.

Then, and now,the symbolism and spirit behind Juneteenth remain sorely needed.

Over time, Juneteenth spread to neighboring states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and eventually to California as Black Texans moved west; it also appeared in Florida and Alabama in the early 20th centurydue to migration from Texas, wrote historian Alwyn Barr in The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 4: Myths, Manners, and Memory.

Perceptions of Juneteenth have also changed over the past century. During World War I, white people and some Black people even considered it un-American, unpatriotic, and shameful "because it focused attention on a dark period in U.S. history," according to the authors of the academic article " When Peace Come: Teaching the Significance of Juneteenth."

According to Barr, Juneteenth observations declined in the 1940s during World War II but were revived in 1950 "with 70,000 black people on the Texas State Fair grounds at Dallas." The celebrations would decline again as attention went to school desegregation and the civil rights movement in the late 1950s and 1960s but picked back up in the 1970s as advocates in Texas launched the first effort to make Juneteenth an unofficial "holiday of significance ... particularly to the blacks of Texas."

On January 1, 1980, Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday after state Rep. Al Edwards put forth legislation. Since that move, individual states began commemorating Juneteenth, and 48 states and Washington, DC, currently observe it.

For more than a decade, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has introduced a resolution to recognize the historical significance of Juneteenth. In 2020, Democrats introduced a bill to make the Juneteenth a national holiday, but Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) single-handedly blocked it on the grounds that America could not afford another day off for federal workers. This year, though, the legislation passed in both the Senate and the House and was signed into law by President Biden - the day before the very first Juneteenth would be commemorated as a federal holiday.

The shift in opinions and recognition of Juneteenth

Juneteenth has been called many things over time: Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, Juneteenth National Freedom Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Black Independence Day. And yet despite the many monikers, Juneteenth has faced competition from other emancipation holidays and has been unknown to many Americans - until perhaps last year, when widespread protests for racial justice coincided with the day.

In 2020, corporations pledged to be anti-racist and many recognized Juneteenth as a company holiday. Citiesalso took steps to specifically recognize Juneteenth at the municipal level. For example, Philadelphia, the site of one of the country's largest Juneteenth parades, passed an executive order designating Juneteenth as an official city holiday for 2020. "This designation of Juneteenth represents my administration's commitment to reckon with our own role in maintaining racial inequities and our understanding of the magnitude of work that lies ahead," said the city's mayor, Jim Kenney.

One reason Juneteenth's history has remained widely misunderstood, or even unknown, until recently is because it's not often taught in schools. Karlos Hill, an author and University of Oklahoma professor of African and African American studies, told Vox in 2018 that "Juneteenth as a moment in African-American history is not, to my knowledge, taught." As for history textbooks that already tend to whitewash history, "I would be willing to guess that there are few, if any, mentions of this holiday," Hill said.

In "Teaching the Significance of Juneteenth," Shennette Garrett-Scott and others wrote, "It is sometimes hard to teach small but pivotal moments in American history. Survey classes mostly allow for covering the biggest events and the most well known people." But to help students understand major moments like the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is important to teach the smaller historical milestones. To Garrett-Scott, teaching Juneteenth gives students a fuller picture of the long, enduring fight for freedom.

Another obstacle that remains for Juneteenth is the pervasive idea that it's a "Black thing," much like Kwanzaa. "It is seen as a holiday that is just observed by African Americans and is poorly understood outside of the African American community. It is perceived as being part of black culture and not 'American culture,' so to speak," Hill said.

Now,the meaning of Juneteenth is being seized more broadly by activists as an opportunity for the United States to come to terms with how slavery continues to affect the lives of all Americans today-it is something for everyone, of every race, to engage in. Stereotypes about Black people as being subhuman and lacking rationality are rooted inslavery. These harmful notions still rear themselves today as police officers disproportionately kill Black people and the health care system fails to adequately care for Black bodies. Advocates argue that the national holiday obviously wouldn't put an end to racism but would rather help foster dialogue about the trauma that has resulted from the enslavement of 4 million people for more than 250 years.

This year, Juneteenth will be celebrated as it has been for decades, with cookouts and parades as well as church gatherings and spirituals, keeping in touch with the original tradition. In 1937, formerly enslaved man Pierce Harper recalled the first Juneteenth: "When peace come they read the 'Mancipation law to the cullud people. [The freed people] spent that night singin' and shoutin'. They wasn't slaves no more."

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Juneteenth's 156th anniversary takes place on June 19, 2020. The holiday commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas. Advocates want Juneteenth to be recognized as a federal holiday.

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Why all Americans should honor Juneteenth

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19th of June is Juneteenth! Also known as Juneteenth Freedom Day, it commemorates the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African American slaves throughout the Confederate South. On June 19th 1865 the Union soldiers brought the news to Texas that the war had ended and the slaves were now free.

Here are some great children's books celebrating Juneteenth, for Elementary School, Middle School and High School:

10 Children's Books celebrating Juneteenth

Mazie is unhappy about her perceived lack of freedom, including bedtimes and cookie restrictions. Her father explains that her restrictions aren't so terrible: "Well, Great, Great, Great Grandpa Mose heard 'no' even more." The day before Juneteenth Mazie's father tells her of the struggles and triumphs of her ancestors, from slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation to segregation and the Selma to Montgomery March. With simple text and realistic oil paintings, Juneteenth for Mazie introduces young readers to this historical day. ~ African - Elementary School

Cassie's family has recently moved to Texas, and it doesn't quite feel like home yet. Then one day there is a lot of excitement: Her aunt visits, her mom fills a big picnic basket with delicious food, the whole family dresses up and heads out. Cassie learns that it is Juneteenth. The community celebration helps her to feel a stronger connection with her new home state. With lively text and warm illustrations, Juneteenth Jamboree is a great introduction to this important holiday. ~ African - Elementary School

Juneteenth describes the historical event from the perspective of some slaves as they go about their daily work. When the news of the abolition of slavery arrive, the man working in the cornfield starts to cry, the woman scrubbing the floors dances on the wet floor, the woman milking the cows falls to her knees. Everywhere in Texas people stop working and jump for joy. The expressive paintings of this touching picture book reflect the feelings of the freed slaves beautifully. ~ African - Elementary School

Together with their elderly Aunt Marshall, June and her sullen cousin Lillie from New York celebrate Juneteenth in 1943 Texas. Lillie is bored with "the dumb old slave holiday," but when she sees the many "Whites Only" signs, she realizes that freedom still very much needs to be fought for. When Aunt Marshall tells the girls about what it was like for her to be born a slave and to be set free, both girls are profoundly moved. Freedom's Gifts introduces children to the subjects of slavery, Juneteenth and segregation. ~ African - Elementary School

AllDifferent Nowtells the story of the day freedom finally came arrived in Texas from a little girl's perpective. Like every day her family gets ready to work in the cotton fields. The news that will change the family's life forever reach them whilst working in the fields. "We were all / now and forever free / and things / would be / all different now." With free verse text and rich watercolour paintings this is the most stunning of children's books celebrating Juneteenth. Includes a timeline, glossary and notes from the author and illustrator. ~ African - Elementary School

Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom provides in-depth coverage of the day that slavery ended in Texas. It explains the meaning and the historical context of Juneteenth and gives examples of the celebrations from 1866 to today. Colourful illustrations, archival photographs, and historical documents make the information accessible for readers aged ten and up. ~ African - Middle School

The Emancipation Proclamation has brought an end to slavery, but the road to freedom is still long and hard. With 3 story paths, 46 choices, and 22 endings, The Story of Juneteenth lets young readers role play life as a freed slave. They have to overcome obstacles on their way north, find their lost family, and stand up for their rights when they are still being treated as a slave. This unique interactive story book makes history real for middle grade students. ~ African - Middle School

Juneteenth: Freedom Day chronicles the evolvement of Juneteenth from a relatively local to a nationwide celebration. The author and photographer traveled to various places in the US to experience and document this celebration of freedom. With photographs, historical facts and newspaper quotes, the book explores the history of Juneteenth in an accessible way. ~ African - Middle School

Born a slave, Sis Goose has been unofficially adopted into the slave owner's family after her mother's death. Her and Luli, the farmer's daughter, grow up as sisters. One day Union soldiers arrive and announce that slaves have been declared free for nearly two years. When Sis Goose realizes that the people she called family have lied to her for that long, she runs away, leading to tragic consequences. Come Juneteenth is a moving historical novel about family, the true meaning of freedom and the historical events that led to the celebration of Juneteenth. ~ African - High School

When Tiny hears rumours that the war is over and slaves will soon be free, she runs away from the plantation. In the back of a wagon she makes her way to Galveston where she hears Major General Granger read the proclamation announcing the slaves are free. Tiny joins the spontaneous celebration, but her former owner tries to prevent her from living a free life. Part of the Young Texans Series, Tiny's Emancipation tells the gripping story of a young freed slave, and sheds light on the origins of Juneteenth. ~ African - High School

*You can buy any of the books on this site from Amazon USA, CAN or UK by clicking on the book titles or images*

More Children's Books about Black History:
8 New Picture Book Biographies for Black History Month 21 Picture Books for Black History Month Children's Books about the Harlem Renaissance African American Historical Fiction for Middle School 21 Award-winning Children's Books for Black History Month 9 Children's Books about Nelson Mandela & Desmond Tutu Top 10 Children's Books about Kwanzaa Multicultural Book of the Month: Voice of Freedom Multicultural Book of the Month: The Case for Loving Multicultural Book of the Month: Radiant Child

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10 Children's Books celebrating Juneteenth

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19th of June is Juneteenth! Also known as Juneteenth Freedom Day, it commemorates the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African American slaves throughout the Confederate South. On June 19th 1865 the Union soldiers brought the news to Texas that the war had ended and the slaves were now free.

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Elementary and Middle | High School | Adult | Teachers

Below are books for students and teachers on the Reconstruction era in the United States. We also recommend the lesson, Reconstructing the South: A Role Play, the free downloadable booklet from the National Park Service called The Era of Reconstruction: 1861-1900, and The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy.

The Zinn Education Project Teach Reconstruction Campaign offers more lessons for middle and high school, a student campaign to make Reconstruction history visible in their communities, and an annotated list of recommended teaching guides, student-friendly books, primary document collections, and films.

Most of the books on this website are linked for more information or purchase to Powells, an independent, union labor bookstore. Titles with reviews are noted with an asterisk(*). Feedback on this list and suggestions for additional titles are welcome.

See more recommended titles on these lists: Civil Rights Teaching, Black History, Slavery, Resistance, and Reparations

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Elementary and Middle | High School | Adult | Teachers Below are books for students and teachers on the Reconstruction era in the United States. We also recommend the lesson, Reconstructing the South: A Role Play, the free downloadable booklet from the National Park Service called The Era of Reconstruction: 1861-1900 , and The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy.

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Slavery and Resistance | Social Justice Books

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Remarks about Juneteenth after the bill's passing

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JUNETEENTH:  Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) hold a press conference to celebrate unanimous Senate passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act https://t.co/RP4fIha1Oe

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JUNETEENTH:  Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) hold a press conference to celebrate unanimous Senate passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act https://t.co/RP4fIha1Oe

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JUNETEENTH: Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) hold a press conference to celebrate unanimous Senate passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act https://t.co/RP4fIha1Oe
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) June 16, 2021

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JUNETEENTH:  Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) hold a press conference to celebrate unanimous Senate passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act https://t.co/RP4fIha1Oe

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JUNETEENTH:  Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) hold a press conference to celebrate unanimous Senate passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act https://t.co/RP4fIha1Oe

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JUNETEENTH:  Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) hold a press conference to celebrate unanimous Senate passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act https://t.co/RP4fIha1Oe

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June 19, 1865 was the day news of freedom reached the last enslaved person in the Americas. Also called Emancipation Day, it's the equivalent to Independence Day for Blacks with a history of slavery. Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation (which should have freed the slaves) only included enslaved people of the North while many slaves of the South joined the Union army. It took the end of Civil War and news to travel all the way to Galveston, Texas before all slaves were free.

Here in LA, celebrations that include lots of food, dancing, and activities, have been happening for the last few weeks. For me, celebrations also call for books. Here are 10 books to celebrate Juneteenth from young to old.

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10 Books to Celebrate Juneteenth No Matter Your Age - Black & Bookish

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June 19, 1865 was the day news of freedom reached the last enslaved person in the Americas. Also called Emancipation Day, it's the equivalent to Independence Day for Blacks with a history of slavery. Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation (which should have freed the slaves) only included enslaved people of the North while many slaves of the South joined the Union army.

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The red, white, and blue Juneteenth flag commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., which came over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

On June 19th, 1865, General Gordon Granger of the Union Army dispatched this order in Galveston, Texas: "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." This announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation-but until the surrender of General Robert E. Lee two months before, there hadn't been Union troops in Texas to enforce it.

This month, Juneteenth-a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth"-celebrations will once again commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S., and some will raise the official banner: a red, white, and blue emblem that "gives all Americans the opportunity to recognize American freedom and African-American history," according to the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. The flag was first hoisted in 2000 at the Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston, Massachusetts, by the foundation's founder Ben Haith, who also created its design.

Haith, who's known as Boston Ben, drafted the flag's inchoate elements in 1997 alongside a host of contributors. To reflect the celebration's slogan-"a new freedom, a new people, a new star"-the banner included a red arc, blue background, and "a star of Texas bursting with new freedom throughout the land, over a new horizon," says the foundation. Then, in 2000, in preparation of that inaugural flag-raising in Boston, illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf lent her expert eye to arrive at the flag's current design. "As an illustrator, I fine-tuned their vision," she reflects. Beginning in 2007, the flag would see Graf's iteration occasionally emblazoned with the historic date "June 19th, 1865."

Though efforts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday are ongoing, it is currently recognized by 45 states and the District of Columbia. Some noticed the date was added to Apple's Calendar in 2018, while Google Calendar just added it, according to The Verge. A growing number of companies, like Nike, Twitter, and Square, are adding the date to their PTO calendars to honor Black heritage, and to make space for continued education, celebration, and connection.
Related Reading: A Growing List of More Than 100 BIPOC Designers and Architects Just Started Circulating Black-Owned Design Businesses You Can Support Right Now Image of Sheila Jackson courtesy of Johntex Image of Texans courtesy of Grace Murray Infographic courtesy of Eddie891

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The Design and History of the Juneteenth Flag

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The red, white, and blue Juneteenth flag commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., which came over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. On June 19th, 1865, General Gordon Granger of the Union Army dispatched this order in Galveston, Texas: "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free."