Today is African-American Emancipation Day also known as Juneteenth. It was today, June 19, 1865 that slaves in Galveston, Texas were finally told of their freedom. This was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued September 22, 1862 and became effective January 1, 1863. According to Juneteenth.com:
"The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive order. However, with the surrender of General [Robert E.] Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General [Gordon] Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance."
Early celebrations of Juneteenth were held primarily in Texas, in fact it became a state holiday in 1980. Since then 28 other states recognize Juneteenth as either a state holiday or state holiday observance. Those states include: Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Delaware, Idaho, Alaska, Iowa, California, Wyoming, Missouri, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, Washington, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Vermont, North Carolina, and finally SOUTH CAROLINA. As of May 14, 2008, the State of South Carolina became the 28th state to observe Juneteenth. It took us almost 30 years but what can you expect from a state that celebrates Confederate Memorial Day. So I guess you can call it progress.
But today is about recognizing and celebrating our freedom and acheivements. And what better way to do that than supporting the first African-American presidential nominee (blatant plug I know). Yes We Can!
The Afrospear is Celebrating Juneteenth! Check out the following posts:
Dallas South Blog
Black Perspective
Eddie Griffn's Blog
Electronic Village
Fort Wayne African-American Independent Woman
The Jose Vilson
All About Race
UltravioletUnderground
A Slant Truth
What Tami Said
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Emancipation Day
Posted by Kim at 3:54 PM
Labels: AfroSpear, Juneteenth, President Obama, Yes We Can
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2 comments:
Every Black American should know about this day. The sad thing is, a lot of the slaves didn't know they were free for a long time after this day was in effect.
Because some areas of the South Carolina coast came under federal control, the first Emancipation Day celebration on South Carolina soil actually occurred on January 1, 1863. Many years after the end of slavery, the African-American community in South Carolina may have continued the tradition of celebrating the real anniversary. There is positive evidence that on January 2, 1910, an Emancipation Day parade was held in Columbia, SC, and featured a number of brass bands.
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