“We all require and want respect, man or woman, Black or white. It’s our basic human right.” – Aretha Franklin
On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed slaveowners in Galveston, Texas, that President Abraham Lincoln had freed all slaves in rebel states two and a half years previously. Texas, like many other Southern states, had ignored the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and Granger had to coerce the community to comply with the order.
Since there was no CNN or Instagram then, word spread slowly. Slaveowners were responsible for freeing their slaves and many chose to “drag their feet” or outright ignore the directive until Union troops arrived to enforce it. Texas was the last state to free slaves, and so this is why June 19 “Juneteenth” is celebrated as a significant day in our nation’s history. Indeed, “None of us are free until all of us are free.”
And just last year, June 16, 2021, Congress voted and passed a law declaring Juneteenth a National Holiday. Long overdue, but a victory nonetheless.
Happy Juneteenth!!!
“You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” Malcolm X