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What is Juneteenth? - Juneteenth World Wide Celebration

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The reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. While many lingered to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, many left before these offers were completely off the lips of their former 'masters' - attesting to the varying conditions on the plantations and the realization of freedom.

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by: Teresa Pellicano

Posted: / Updated:

FILE - In this June 19, 2018, file photo, Zebiyan Fields, 11, at center, drums alongside more than 20 kids at the front of the Juneteenth parade in Flint, Mich. Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, originated 155 years ago. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP, File)

(WTNH) - Saturday, June 19 is Juneteenth. It is marked by African American families across the nation with cookouts, parades, community festivals, and other events. Communities across Connecticut are celebrating through the month of June.

The Associated Press reports, historically, "While the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the South in 1863, it wasn't enforced in many places until after the end of the Civil War two years later. Confederate soldiers surrendered in April 1865, but word didn't reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Galveston, Texas."

A three-day Juneteenth "Freedom Day Commemoration" will be held in Manchester June 18-20.

Manchester's Recreational Division writes, "the weekend will include mural unveilings, an art opening, a black-owned food & vendor market, a three-on-three youth basketball tournament, family activities, live music, and much more. Learn more about this community commemoration."

I'll be writing about Manchester's 3-day Juneteenth celebration later on this week, something town officials hope is a historic and meaningful event https://t.co/RaAHzZ9i0x
- Skyler Frazer (@SkyFraCT) June 14, 2021

The City of Hartford Office of Equity and Opportunity will be holding a Juneteenth celebration at the Trinity Street mural on Saturday, June 19. The celebration will include performances, a fashion show, community reflections, and a photo booth.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3cwSVDf

City of Hartford Office of Equity and Opportunity: Hartford Juneteenth Celebration at the Trinity Street Mural in Hartford

✔️Performances
✔️Fashion show
✔️Community reflections
✔️For the Culture photo booth

Learn more + get involvedhttps://bit.ly/3cwSVDf pic.twitter.com/cmBUKBV5jY
- Hartford Chamber of Commerce - CT (@HartfdChamber) June 11, 2021

Bridgeport is hosting a Juneteenth Freedom Day event on Saturday, June 19 from 12-6p at Creative Venue & Rentals on Logan Street.

The event will feature music, food, history, community and fun. Kids under 10 years old can enter for free. DJ's and speakers will entertain attendees with history lessons and music. Special guest speaker: Kevin Mohammed

The 30th annual Juneteenth celebration hosted by The Amistad Center for Art and Culture at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art will be held Saturday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m.

The event includes the presentation of the 2021 Spirit of Juneteenth Award to four recipients. And from 7:30-8:30 p.m. and "after-party" will be held DJs and music.

The event will be held virtually this year. For more information click here.

New Haven - Juneteenth Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade Clean-up Campaign. Saturday, June 19, 2021, 10:00 a.m. - until completion. ECFFPC Parade Route - Dixwell Avenue from Bassett Street to Lake Place.

Stratford - The Town of Stratford is holding a ceremony and flag raising in commemoration of Juneteenth on the steps of Town Hall on Friday, June 18, 2021, at 9 a.m.

Milford - Juneteenth Flag-raising with Mayor Ben Blake Bryan Anderson was held Mon., June 14, 2021, at 2:00 PM. The flag-raising ushers in the Juneteenth celebration planned for Saturday, June 19th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on the Milford Green.

The celebration Saturday will feature children's activities, readings, music, artists, and nonprofit vendors. Theme-related food will be available for sale. Sponsored by the Milford Juneteenth Committee, The Washington-Walker Family Fund, Beth-El Center, Milford Arts Council (MAC), We Believe Coalition, and Barrett Outdoor. Email juneteenthmilford@gmail.com for further information. Volunteers welcome!

On Monday, June 14, CT Landmarks with the NAACP of New London and OIC of New London County hosted a Juneteenth celebration at the historic Hempsted Houses.

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by: Teresa Pellicano Posted: / Updated: (WTNH) - Saturday, June 19 is Juneteenth. It is marked by African American families across the nation with cookouts, parades, community festivals, and other events. Communities across Connecticut are celebrating through the month of June.

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On June 19, 1865, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free. A century and a half later, people in cities and towns across the U.S. continue to celebrate the occasion.

A Juneteenth parade in Flint, Mich., in 2018. Credit... Jake May/The Flint Journal, via Associated Press

Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, has been celebrated by African-Americans since the late 1800s.

But in recent years, and particularly following nationwide protests over police brutality and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans, there is a renewed interest in the day that celebrates freedom.

The celebration continues to resonate in new ways, given the sweeping changes and widespread protests across the U.S. over the last year and following a guilty verdict in the killing of Mr. Floyd.

Here's a brief guide to what you should know about Juneteenth.

On June 19, 1865, about two months after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. General Granger's announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln.

The holiday received its name by combining June and 19. The day is also sometimes called " Juneteenth Independence Day," "Freedom Day" or "Emancipation Day."

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A Juneteenth parade in Austin in 2011. Top row: Miss Juneteenth Desiree Hicks, 18, left, and Miss Lil Juneteenth, Deaqujwyanta Sorrells, 11. Bottom row, from left: Aubri Brent, 12; Deawntanique Sorrells, 5; and Jada Pickens, 9. Credit... Rodolfo Gonzalez, Austin American-Statesman, via Associated Press

The original celebration became an annual one, and it grew in popularity over the years with the addition of descendants, according to Juneteenth.com, which tracks celebrations. The day was celebrated by praying and bringing families together. In some celebrations on this day, men and women who had been enslaved, and their descendants, made an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston.

Celebrations reached new heights in 1872 when a group of African-American ministers and businessmen in Houston purchased 10 acres of land and created Emancipation Park. The space was intended to hold the city's annual Juneteenth celebration.

Today, while some celebrations take place among families in backyards where food is an integral element, some cities, like Atlanta and Washington, hold larger events, like parades and festivals with residents, local businesses and more.

While celebrations in 2020 were largely subdued by the coronavirus pandemic, some cities this year are pressing forward with plans.

Galveston has remained a busy site for Juneteenth events over the years, said Douglas Matthews, who has helped coordinate them for more than two decades.

In 2021, the city will dedicate a 5,000 square-foot mural, entitled "Absolute Equality," on the spot where General Granger informed enslaved African-Americans of their freedom. The city will also mark the holiday with a parade and picnic. Events and activities in Atlanta this year have been scaled back, but organizers have made plans for a parade and music festival at Centennial Olympic Park. Similar events are scheduled in Annapolis, Md.; Chicago; Detroit and Los Angeles.

Previous efforts have failed to make it a national holiday, and few have fought harder for the recognition than Opal Lee, an activist in Fort Worth who campaigns for the cause.

On June 17, 2021, it became the 11th holiday recognized by the federal government. The Senate on June 15 passed a bill to recognize the day, and the House approved the measure the next day. President Biden signed the bill into law the day after that, immediately giving federal employees the day off this year.

In 1980, Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a holiday, though the recognition is largely symbolic. Since then, at least 45 states and the District of Columbia have moved to officially recognize the day. Last October, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, both Democrats, signed into law legislation declaring Juneteenth holidays in their respective states. Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, also a Democrat, declared Juneteenth a state holiday starting in 2022, and legislators in Illinois approved a bill that would make it a paid day off for all state employees and a school holiday. More recently, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana and Gov. Janet Mills of Maine, both Democrats, signed bills making the day a state holiday.

Amid last year's unrest, many businesses moved toward marking it as a company holiday, giving many employees a paid day off. Twitter and Square, a mobile payment company, along with the N.F.L., Best Buy, Nike and Target all recognized Juneteenth last year.

The Sankofa Village for the Arts drum and dance group performing during the Jubilee of Freemen Parade to celebrate Juneteenth at Point State Park last year in Pittsburgh. Credit... Alexandra Wimley/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Associated Press

Following the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died in the custody of the Minneapolis Police in May 2020, thousands of people around the United States poured onto the streets in protest. Mr. Floyd's name, as well as the names of Ms. Taylor, Mr. Arbery, David McAtee and others, became a rallying cry for change across the country, effectively re-energizing the Black Lives Matter movement.

That change came in waves. In Minneapolis, officials banned the use of chokeholds and strangleholds by the police, and said officers must intervene and report any use of unauthorized force.

Democrats in Congress unveiled sweeping legislation targeting misconduct and racial discrimination by the police. The bill was the most expansive intervention into policing that lawmakers have proposed in recent memory.

Companies across the business spectrum voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement and either suspended or fired employees who mocked Mr. Floyd's death or made racist remarks.

In April, Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty of two counts of murder in the death of Mr. Floyd.

Mark Anthony Neal, an African-American studies scholar at Duke University, said there are some comparisons between the end of the Civil War to the unrest that swept the country, adding that the moment felt like a "rupture."

"The stakes are a little different," Mr. Neal said.

"I think Juneteenth feels a little different now," he said. "It's an opportunity for folks to kind of catch their breath about what has been this incredible pace of change and shifting that we've seen over the last couple of weeks."

Last spring, President Donald J. Trump announced his first rally since the coronavirus pandemic had shut down most of the country. It would be held in Tulsa, Okla., on June 19: a date and location of significance for many Black Americans. In 1921, the city was the site of one of the country's worst episodes of racist violence, when white mobs attacked a wealthy Black business district known as Black Wall Street. The mobs destroyed more than 1,200 homes and killed as many as 300 people.

The announcement drew ire from Mr. Trump's critics. "This isn't just a wink to white supremacists - he's throwing them a welcome home party," then-Senator Kamala Harris of California tweeted at the time. In response to the backlash, Brad Parscale, Mr. Trump's campaign manager, touted Mr. Trump's " solid record of success " for African-Americans.

Shortly after the rally was announced, Mr. Trump said it would be delayed by one day after some of his Black friends and supporters suggested the change out of respect for the holiday.

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On June 19, 1865, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free. A century and a half later, people in cities and towns across the U.S. continue to celebrate the occasion. Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, has been celebrated by African-Americans since the late 1800s.

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Description

June 19th, 1865, began as another hot day in Texas. Enslaved African Americans worked in fields, in barns, and in the homes of the white people who owned them. Then a message arrived. Freedom Slavery had ended The Civil War had actually ended in April. It took two months for word to reach Texas. Still the joy of that amazing day has never been forgotten. Every year, people all over the United States come together on June 19th to celebrate the end of slavery. Join in the celebration of Juneteenth, a day to remember and honor freedom for all people.

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Juneteenth (On My Own Holidays) (Paperback)

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June 19th, 1865, began as another hot day in Texas. Enslaved African Americans worked in fields, in barns, and in the homes of the white people who owned them. Then a message arrived. Freedom Slavery had ended The Civil War had actually ended in April. It took two months for word to reach Texas.

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Description

Experience the joy of Juneteenth in this celebration of freedom from the award-winning team of Angela Johnson and E.B. Lewis.

Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms.

Told in Angela Johnson's signature melodic style and brought to life by E.B. Lewis's striking paintings, All Different Now is a joyous portrait of the dawn breaking on the darkest time in our nation's history.

About the Author

Angela Johnson has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels The First Part Last, Heaven, and Toning the Sweep. The First Part Last was also the recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award. She is also the author of the novels Looking for Red and A Certain October. Her books for younger readers include the Coretta Scott King Honor Book When I Am Old with You, illustrated by David Soman; Wind Flyers and I Dream of Trains, both illustrated by Loren Long; and Lottie Paris Lives Here and its sequel Lottie Paris and the Best Place, both illustrated by Scott M. Fischer. Additional picture books include A Sweet Smell of Roses, Just Like Josh Gibson, The Day Ray Got Away, and All Different Now. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio. Visit her at AJohnsonAuthor.com.

E.B. Lewis is the award-winning illustrator of such books as Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard, which was a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, and This Little Light of Mine. He received the Caldecott Honor for Coming on Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by Nikki Grimes. E.B. Lewis lives in New Jersey, and you can visit him online at EBLewis.com.

Praise For...

"Rich, subdued watercolors convey the celebrations with dignity and awe. Johnson's attached verse enables younger readers to see the momentous nature of this date...a worthy addition to any collection on the topic."
- Booklist

*"The richness of this book's words and images will inspire readers to learn more about this holiday that never should have been necessary...but was."
- Kirkus Reviews

*"This elegant collaboration by the creators of Lily Brown's Paintings tells of the day that slaves on a Texas plantation learn they are free... Johnson's graceful poem is narrated by a girl who heads to the cotton fields one June morning with her family and other slaves, unaware "that soon,/ it would all be different."... Using a lovely, muted palette, Lewis's expressive watercolors convey the impact of the news of freedom, dramatically contrasting the slaves' lives before and after."
- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

*"Juneteenth...is a day of celebration for many African Americans. In exquisite, lyrical text, Johnson reimagines that historic event from the perspective of one fictional family, on a day that started like any other...Lewis's soft watercolors mirror the emotion of the text...Placed alongside the many very good books about slavery for young readers, Johnson and Lewis's story is an excellent next step in African American history, a celebration of moving forward."
- Horn Book, STARRED REVIEW

*"With a narrative notable for its understated simplicity and lack of judgment, this title allows readers to draw their own conclusions. An effective entrée to a challenging conversation."
- School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"Johnson's quiet ragged-right prose has a credible breathlessness as it conveys the mixture of stunned amazement and sheer joy. Lewis' limpid watercolors are low-key, his usual chiaroscuro effectively illuminating the diurnal progress of the text as well as the emotional shades of the story...This is an emotive and effective way to take emancipation from a historic date to the experience of people whose lives changed, and it'll open kids' eyes to the impact of the transition."
- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"This is a handsomely designed book, a thoughtful book, a joyous book, and a great historical perspective."
- Library Media Connection

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All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom (Hardcover)

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Experience the joy of Juneteenth in this celebration of freedom from the award-winning team of Angela Johnson and E.B. Lewis.Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South.

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The Racial Justice in America: Histories series explores moments and eras in America's history that have been ignored or misrepresented in education due to racial bias. Juneteenth explores the history around the celebration in a comprehensive, honest, and age-appropriate way. Developed in conjunction with educator, advocate, and author Kelisa Wing to reach children of all races and encourage them to approach our history with open eyes and minds. Books include 21st Century Skills and content, as well as activities created by Wing. Also includes a table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, sidebars, educational matter, and activities.

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The Racial Justice in America: Histories series explores moments and eras in America's history that have been ignored or misrepresented in education due to racial bias. Juneteenth explores the history around the celebration in a comprehensive, honest, and age-appropriate way.

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The essential, sweeping story of Juneteenth's integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Texas native.

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed's On Juneteenth provides a historian's view of the country's long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond. All too aware of the stories of cowboys, ranchers, and oilmen that have long dominated the lore of the Lone Star State, Gordon-Reed-herself a Texas native and the descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas as early as the 1820s-forges a new and profoundly truthful narrative of her home state, with implications for us all.

Combining personal anecdotes with poignant facts gleaned from the annals of American history, Gordon-Reed shows how, from the earliest presence of Black people in Texas to the day in Galveston on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of legalized slavery in the state, African-Americans played an integral role in the Texas story.

Reworking the traditional "Alamo" framework, she powerfully demonstrates, among other things, that the slave- and race-based economy not only defined the fractious era of Texas independence but precipitated the Mexican-American War and, indeed, the Civil War itself.

In its concision, eloquence, and clear presentation of history, On Juneteenth vitally revises conventional renderings of Texas and national history. As our nation verges on recognizing June 19 as a national holiday, On Juneteenth is both an essential account and a stark reminder that the fight for equality is exigent and ongoing.

About the Author

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. The author of Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hemingses of Monticello, she lives in New York and Cambridge.

Praise For...

The Education of Henry Adams is the second most influential memoir in American letters, after Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. Annette Gordon-Reed's insightful, often touching reflection on the Black experience in Texas, starting with her own, lands between these two.... Gordon-Reed has earned acclaim as one of the most important American historians of our time.

- H.W. Brands, New York Times Book Review, cover review

It is more than a small pleasure to see that Black historians who have been engaged in deep archival research for decades continue to produce field-changing work that ought to be the center of any national debate about how Americans reckon with our racial past. In On Juneteenth, Harvard historian Annette Gordon-Reed brilliantly meditates on the origin stories that we tell ourselves in an effort to avoid the nuances of history. Gordon-Reed is a legend in her field.... Among the most significant historians in the country, a remarkable analyst of the American archive whose gift for storytelling is matched only by her prolific range.... On Juneteenth-part memoir, part local history, part contemplative essay on the meaning of Texas as American myth-reveals a historian whose scholarship will never be limited... she is more broadly concerned with the very nature of history itself.... Offer[ing] us a declaration of history as nuance. On Juneteenth is a text that has the power to alter its field, with a vigorous assertion of the importance of historical context in our current political moment.

- Kerri Greenidge - The New Republic

In a series of short, moving essays, [Gordon-Reed] explores "the long road" to June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger announced the end of legalized slavery in Texas, the state where Gordon-Reed was born and raised.... No matter what she's looking at, Gordon-Reed pries open this space between the abstract and particular.... One of the things that makes this slender book stand out is Gordon-Reed's ability to combine clarity with subtlety, elegantly carving a path between competing positions, instead of doing as too many of us do in this age of hepped-up social-media provocations by simply reacting to them. In On Juneteenth she leads by example, revisiting her own experiences, questioning her own assumptions - and showing that historical understanding is a process, not an end point.

- Jennifer Szalai - New York Times

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian interweaves her personal, trailblazing history with that of her home state to pierce many of the false narratives we learned as children about the country's treatment of African Americans.... Gordon-Reed offers a timely history lesson. She does so with beautiful prose, breathtaking stories and painful memories.... Gordon-Reed's literary gift is the ability to research and write about subjects with broadly accepted stories in a convincing way that allows readers to consider other perspectives.
- Daina Ramey Berry - Washington Post

Gordon-Reed offers a book that is both profound and personal in its exploration of the ways history shapes our lives and becomes distorted and reinvigorated over time.
- TIME, "The Best Books of 2021 So Far"

[Gordon-Reed's] academic training tempers that lifelong sense of Texas exceptionalism as she details with clear-eyed detachment yet enduring affection the Lone Star State's outsized impact on the nation.... The beauty of history, Gordon-Reed argues, of knowing what didn't happen as well as what did, is that it reminds us of what is yet possible.... This consummate historian suggests that we neither remember nor forget the Alamo but instead remember the people whose "boundless dreams [of freedom] took flight" before we were born.
- Angela Ards - Texas Monthly

The slim 140-page volume is almost like a pocket constitution, and I could see it having a life in classrooms as well as in the hands of lay readers of history.... A compelling counter-narrative to familiar stories of [Texas]'s origins.
- Irene Vázquez - Texas Observer

Gordon-Reed's scholarship is about challenging established notions. And just as she did with the prevailing narrative around Jefferson - as a founding father who could never have fathered children with a Black woman - so she does with the state that gave the nation Juneteenth.... Gordon-Reed's book is a historian's interrogation of her home state. But like Juneteenth, it speaks to the rest of the nation.
- Rosalind Bentley - Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Gordon-Reed is the textbook definition of public intellectual; and yet she gets personal in this slender, evocative memoir, blending gorgeous details from her small-town Texas girlhood with the unofficial celebration of slavery's demise and the broader canvas of race in America.
- Oprah Daily, "Best Books to Pick Up This May"

Pulitzer Prize winner Annette Gordon-Reed renders a perfectly quilted work of history seen through the eyes of an African American family in Texas.
- Christian Science Monitor, "Best Books of May"

[Gordon-Reed] offers a thoughtful and affectionate meditation on the state in which, despite its dualities, she still feels most at home. Where others might see a simple picture of unreconstructed racism, Gordon-Reed sees - and dissects - complexities that largely defy stereotypes. In so doing, she makes On Juneteenth an important part of the discussion about who and what we are as 21st-century Americans.... Gordon-Reed brings her substantial intellect to this intimate exploration of her home state.

- Eugene L. Meyer - Washington Independent Review of Books

As Juneteenth morphs from a primarily Texan celebration of African American freedom to a proposed national holiday, Gordon-Reed urges Texans and all Americans to reflect critically on this tangled history. A remarkable meditation on the history and folk mythology of Texas from an African American perspective.
- Lesley Williams, Booklist, starred review

This beautifully written memoir makes the case that the history of Black Texas is central to the history of the United States. Gordon-Reed's writing will move all readers of U.S. history.
- Kate Stewart, Library Journal, starred review

Pulitzer-winner Gordon-Reed ( The Hemingses of Monticello) interweaves history, politics, and memoir in these immersive and well-informed essays reflecting on the history of Juneteenth.... Despite the thorny racial history, Gordon-Reed expresses a deep fondness for her native state, writing that 'love does not require taking an uncritical stance toward the object of one's affections.' This brisk history lesson entertains and enlightens.

- Publishers Weekly

A concise personal and scholarly history that avoids academic jargon as it illuminates emotional truths.
- Kirkus Reviews

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The essential, sweeping story of Juneteenth's integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Texas native.

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Juneteenth (First Step Nonfiction -- American Holidays) (Paperback)

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A basic overview of Juneteenth for emergent readers. Color photographs reflect the short, easy-to-understand sentences that improve vocabulary and comprehension.

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2021 juneteenth virtual celebration tickets

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Eventbrite - The Amistad Center for Art & Culture presents 2021 Juneteenth Virtual Celebration - Saturday, June 19, 2021 - Find event and ticket information.

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In 1900, sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois created a series of data visualizations for the "Exhibit of American Negroes" at that year's Paris Exhibition. The graphs and charts center on the socioeconomic conditions facing Black Americans in the state of Georgia, tracing income, marital status, property ownership, and more for visual representation.

The portraits render this information in a uniquely modernist style, opting for a simplified and stylized approach to data visualization. Du Bois turned numbers into solid color fields, bending bar graphs and spooling figures into spirals as he did so. In these deliberate representational decisions, Du Bois merged artistic inclinations with his sociological practice.

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W.E.B. Du Bois, Georgia, and his Data Portraits | Artspace

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In 1900, sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois created a series of data visualizations for the "Exhibit of American Negroes" at that year's Paris Exhibition. The graphs and charts center on the socioeconomic conditions facing Black Americans in the state of Georgia, tracing income, marital status, property ownership, and more for visual representation.

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Description

Juneteenth has been touted as a national day celebrating the end of slavery. Observances from coast to coast have turned this event into part of the national conversation about race, slavery, and how Americans understand, acknowledge, and explain what has been called the national "original sin."

But, why Juneteenth? Where did this celebration-which promises to become a national holiday-come from? What is the origin story? What are the facts, and legends, around this important day in the nation's history?

This is the first scholarly book to delve into the history behind Juneteenth. Using decades of research in archives around the nation, this book helps separate myth from reality and tells the story behind the celebration in a way that provides new understanding and appreciation for the event.

This book will captivate people interested in the history of emancipation and African American history but also those interested in Civil War and Texas history.

As the United States continues to wrestle with race relations and the meaning of full equality, Juneteenth promises to become an important expression of that equality-an Independence Day celebration in its own right, a couple of weeks in advance of the traditional July 4th Holiday. This book will be a welcome addition to classrooms, book clubs and general readers interested in this once obscure regional event now destined for the national spotlight.

About the Author

EDWARD T. COTHAM, JR. has been called "Mr. Civil War Galveston" by many of his readers but might be known just as well as Mr. Civil War Texas. He has already chronicled the battles of Galveston and Sabine Pass, but has now turned his keen intellect and deft pen toward an event that may have an even greater impact on the national imagination: Juneteenth. The longtime president of The Terry Foundation, he is a well-known advocate for Civil War historic preservation. His work on shipwrecks off the coast of Texas has earned him accolades as has his efforts on behalf of Galveston history. He is a graduate of the University of Texas Law School, the University of Chicago, and the University of Houston.

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Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration (Hardcover)

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Juneteenth has been touted as a national day celebrating the end of slavery. Observances from coast to coast have turned this event into part of the national conversation about race, slavery, and how Americans understand, acknowledge, and explain what has been called the national "original sin." But, why Juneteenth?

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The true story of Black activist Opal Lee and her vision of Juneteenth as a holiday for everyone celebrates Black joy and inspires children to see their dreams blossom. Growing up in Texas, Opal knew the history of Juneteenth, but she soon discovered that many Americans had never heard of the holiday that represents the nation's creed of "freedom for all."
Every year, Opal looked forward to the Juneteenth picnic--a drumming, dancing, delicious party. She knew from Granddaddy Zak's stories that Juneteenth celebrated the day the freedom news of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation finally sailed into Texas in 1865--over two years after the president had declared it But Opal didn't always see freedom in her Texas town. Then one Juneteenth day when Opal was twelve years old, an angry crowd burned down her brand-new home. This wasn't freedom at all. She had to do something Opal Lee spent the rest of her life speaking up for equality and unity. She became a teacher, a charity worker, and a community leader. At the age of 89, she walked from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C., in an effort to gain national recognition for Juneteenth.

Through the story of Opal Lee's determination and persistence, children ages 4 to 8 will learn:

all people are created equal

the power of bravery and using your voice for change

the history of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, and what it means today

no one is free unless everyone is free

fighting for a dream is worth every difficulty

Featuring the illustrations of New York Times bestselling illustrator Keturah A. Bobo ( I am Enough), Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free celebrates the life and legacy of a modern-day Black leader while sharing a message of hope, unity, joy, and strength.

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Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth (Hardcover)

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The true story of Black activist Opal Lee and her vision of Juneteenth as a holiday for everyone celebrates Black joy and inspires children to see their dreams blossom. Growing up in Texas, Opal knew the history of Juneteenth, but she soon discovered that many Americans had never heard of the holiday that represents the nation's creed of "freedom for all."

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Description

The Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War have brought an official end to slavery, yet some Southern slave owners are refusing to comply. The road to freedom is still long and hard for many African Americans, but you're not giving up. Will you: Overcome obstacles as you make your way north from Texas, looking to begin a new life of freedom? Seek out your family, from whom you were separated as a child, after emancipation? Fight back when you take work as an apprentice but find that you're still treated as a slave? YOU CHOOSE offers multiple perspectives on history, supporting Common Core reading standards and providing readers a front-row seat to the past.

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The Story of Juneteenth: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History) (Paperback)

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The Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War have brought an official end to slavery, yet some Southern slave owners are refusing to comply. The road to freedom is still long and hard for many African Americans, but you're not giving up.

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What you need to know

President Biden will sign a bill today to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

The legislation gained momentum in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd last year - but Congress has made little progress on federal police reform. A bill named for Floyd remains stalled following Republican opposition.

At the same time, multiple states have moved to ban teaching critical race theory in schools.

There's also a raft of new state laws aimed at restricting voting rights.

1 min ago
Activists have long sought broader recognition of Juneteenth

From CNN's Harmeet Kaur

Juneteenth commemorates the moment in 1865 when news of emancipation reached the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas.

Though the day has often been omitted in history books and overlooked by non-Black Americans, activists and leaders had been pushing for decades to gain greater national recognition for it.

After taking a backseat during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Juneteenth made a resurgence in the '80s and '90s in communities across the country, with Texas becoming the first state to establish it as a holiday in 1980.

In 1994, leaders from around the nation gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans to advocate for even greater acknowledgment of June 19's significance. That meeting would spawn a number of organizations and causes dedicated to commemorating and honoring Juneteenth, including the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.

In 2000, the group's founder and chairman Rev. Ronald Myers began a campaign to make it a national day of observance and for all 50 states and US territories to recognize it as a state holiday or observance.

Others, like Opal Lee, fought for Juneteenth's recognition in less traditional ways.

In 2016, then 89-year-old Lee set out on foot from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, with the goal of reaching the nation's capital. Determined to see Juneteenth become a national holiday, she hoped that "surely somebody would notice a little old lady in tennis shoes."

The "grandmother of Juneteenth" continued to push for the effort with an annual 2.5-mile walk in her hometown, symbolizing the two-and-a-half years it took for word of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to reach enslaved people in Texas.

Five years later, her efforts paid off.

25 min ago
A look back at Juneteenth's path to becoming a federal holiday

From CNN's Harmeet Kaur

For much of US history, Juneteenth has been a date observed mostly by Black Americans commemorating the symbolic end of slavery. Since the reckoning reignited by the killing of George Floyd last year, though, the tide has changed enormously.

All but one state, as well as the District of Columbia, recognize the milestone of Black liberation in some form or another. Numerous companies mark the occasion by giving their employees the day off.

Congress has passed legislation that would establish June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, sending the bill to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.

This makes Juneteenth the first holiday approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983. Getting to this point took longstanding pushes by activists, several legislative attempts and the momentum generated by the Black Lives Matter movement last year.

Congress has, in various years, passed resolutions honoring Juneteenth, but it wasn't until last year that lawmakers considered making it a national holiday.

At the height of the antiracism protests of last year, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, both Democrats, introduced bills in their respective chambers to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Despite broad bipartisan support, however, their effort was unsuccessful, with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin blocking the measure on the grounds that giving workers another day of paid leave would cost too much.

Jackson Lee and Markey renewed their efforts earlier this year, reintroducing the Juneteenth National Independence Day in February.

This week, Johnson announced he would no longer block the bill from advancing. The Senate unanimously passed the resolution on Tuesday, the House approved the measure Wednesday.

"For far too long, the story of our country's history has been incomplete as we have failed to acknowledge, address, and come to grips with our nation's original sin of slavery," Markey said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Today's Senate passage of our legislation to commemorate Juneteenth as a federal holiday will address this long-ignored gap in our history, recognize the wrong that was done, acknowledge the pain and suffering of generations of slaves and their descendants, and finally celebrate their freedom."

57 min ago
Congress passed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Here are key things to know.

From CNN's Annie Grayer and Daniella Diaz

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would establish June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, sending the bill to President Biden's desk for his signature.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will sign the bill into law today at 3:30 p.m. ET and deliver remarks.

How the vote unfolded: The bill passed the House 415-14 after the Senate unanimously passed the legislation Tuesday. The 14 Republicans to vote against the bill were Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, Doug LaMalfa of California, Tom McClintock of California, Mike Rogers of Alabama, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Ronny Jackson of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Chip Roy of Texas and Paul Gosar of Arizona.

The bill's path: The legislation had gained momentum after the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year and the Democrats' takeover of the White House and Congress.The legislation was previously blocked by conservative Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in 2020, but he dropped his objection this week despite his concerns, allowing the bill to advance out of the chamber. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House would vote Wednesday in a tweet where he thanked the bill's bipartisan sponsors, which included Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

More on the holiday's history: On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas, the end of slavery in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. In 1980, Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday. In the decades since, every state but South Dakota came to officially commemorate Juneteenth, but only a handful of states observe it as a paid holiday.

Read more about the bill here.

What you need to know

President Biden will sign a bill today to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

The legislation gained momentum in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd last year - but Congress has made little progress on federal police reform. A bill named for Floyd remains stalled following Republican opposition.

At the same time, multiple states have moved to ban teaching critical race theory in schools.

There's also a raft of new state laws aimed at restricting voting rights.

1 min ago
Activists have long sought broader recognition of Juneteenth

From CNN's Harmeet Kaur

Juneteenth commemorates the moment in 1865 when news of emancipation reached the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas.

Though the day has often been omitted in history books and overlooked by non-Black Americans, activists and leaders had been pushing for decades to gain greater national recognition for it.

After taking a backseat during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Juneteenth made a resurgence in the '80s and '90s in communities across the country, with Texas becoming the first state to establish it as a holiday in 1980.

In 1994, leaders from around the nation gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans to advocate for even greater acknowledgment of June 19's significance. That meeting would spawn a number of organizations and causes dedicated to commemorating and honoring Juneteenth, including the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.

In 2000, the group's founder and chairman Rev. Ronald Myers began a campaign to make it a national day of observance and for all 50 states and US territories to recognize it as a state holiday or observance.

Others, like Opal Lee, fought for Juneteenth's recognition in less traditional ways.

In 2016, then 89-year-old Lee set out on foot from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, with the goal of reaching the nation's capital. Determined to see Juneteenth become a national holiday, she hoped that "surely somebody would notice a little old lady in tennis shoes."

The "grandmother of Juneteenth" continued to push for the effort with an annual 2.5-mile walk in her hometown, symbolizing the two-and-a-half years it took for word of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to reach enslaved people in Texas.

Five years later, her efforts paid off.

25 min ago
A look back at Juneteenth's path to becoming a federal holiday

From CNN's Harmeet Kaur

For much of US history, Juneteenth has been a date observed mostly by Black Americans commemorating the symbolic end of slavery. Since the reckoning reignited by the killing of George Floyd last year, though, the tide has changed enormously.

All but one state, as well as the District of Columbia, recognize the milestone of Black liberation in some form or another. Numerous companies mark the occasion by giving their employees the day off.

Congress has passed legislation that would establish June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, sending the bill to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.

This makes Juneteenth the first holiday approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983. Getting to this point took longstanding pushes by activists, several legislative attempts and the momentum generated by the Black Lives Matter movement last year.

Congress has, in various years, passed resolutions honoring Juneteenth, but it wasn't until last year that lawmakers considered making it a national holiday.

At the height of the antiracism protests of last year, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, both Democrats, introduced bills in their respective chambers to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Despite broad bipartisan support, however, their effort was unsuccessful, with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin blocking the measure on the grounds that giving workers another day of paid leave would cost too much.

Jackson Lee and Markey renewed their efforts earlier this year, reintroducing the Juneteenth National Independence Day in February.

This week, Johnson announced he would no longer block the bill from advancing. The Senate unanimously passed the resolution on Tuesday, the House approved the measure Wednesday.

"For far too long, the story of our country's history has been incomplete as we have failed to acknowledge, address, and come to grips with our nation's original sin of slavery," Markey said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Today's Senate passage of our legislation to commemorate Juneteenth as a federal holiday will address this long-ignored gap in our history, recognize the wrong that was done, acknowledge the pain and suffering of generations of slaves and their descendants, and finally celebrate their freedom."

57 min ago
Congress passed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Here are key things to know.

From CNN's Annie Grayer and Daniella Diaz

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would establish June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, sending the bill to President Biden's desk for his signature.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will sign the bill into law today at 3:30 p.m. ET and deliver remarks.

How the vote unfolded: The bill passed the House 415-14 after the Senate unanimously passed the legislation Tuesday. The 14 Republicans to vote against the bill were Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, Doug LaMalfa of California, Tom McClintock of California, Mike Rogers of Alabama, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Ronny Jackson of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Chip Roy of Texas and Paul Gosar of Arizona.

The bill's path: The legislation had gained momentum after the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year and the Democrats' takeover of the White House and Congress.The legislation was previously blocked by conservative Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in 2020, but he dropped his objection this week despite his concerns, allowing the bill to advance out of the chamber. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House would vote Wednesday in a tweet where he thanked the bill's bipartisan sponsors, which included Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

More on the holiday's history: On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas, the end of slavery in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. In 1980, Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday. In the decades since, every state but South Dakota came to officially commemorate Juneteenth, but only a handful of states observe it as a paid holiday.

Read more about the bill here.

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live updates: biden signs juneteenth bill

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By Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

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Live updates: Biden signs Juneteenth bill

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What you need to know President Biden will sign a bill today to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The legislation gained momentum in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd last year - but Congress has made little progress on federal police reform.

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biden to sign bill making juneteenth a national holiday as many federal workers to have friday off - cnnpolitics

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Biden to sign bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday

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President Joe Biden is expected to sign a bill on Thursday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.