Juneteenth has been celebrated every year on June 19th for the past 157 years. But last year, the Senate passed a bill making the observance a federal public holiday. Keep reading to learn what Juneteenth celebrates and how you can join in the festivities and celebrations this year.
The History of Juneteenth
Juneteenth celebrates the day in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger delivered an important message to Galveston, Texas, informing the town that the Civil War was officially over and that slavery was abolished.
The Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two and a half years before this moment but could not be enforced in states outside of the Union. Two months before Maj. Gen. Granger read General Order No. 3 to the people of Galveston, Texas, Robert E. Lee surrendered, and the Civil War officially ended.
Since information did not travel instantaneously as it does today, it took messengers physically visiting cities to deliver the news about the monumental changes that had taken place. Galveston, Texas, was the last stop. Juneteenth is celebrated because it honors the day all enslaved people were made aware of their official release from their bonds.
Felix Haywood, a formerly enslaved person who was freed upon the reading of General Order No. 3, recalled the moment he heard the news: "Everybody went wild. We all felt like heroes...just like that, we was free."
What This Meant for Enslaved People
The 250,000 enslaved Texans this affected definitely had cause for celebration.
General Order No. 3 stated that the relationship between the enslaved people and their previous owners should now become one of an employer and hired laborer. Many of the recently freed people, however, chose to leave the plantations and look for family members and new beginnings elsewhere.
Unfortunately for a number of enslaved people, what took place on June 19th did not change anything. Some slave owners chose to ignore the reading of General Order No. 3. Some conveniently forgot to tell the people they enslaved until after the next harvest. Some decided to refuse freedom to the people they enslaved until they were forced, in person, to release them. Some attacked and killed the enslaved people that tried to leave.
Early Celebrations
For the years immediately after the reading of General Order No. 3, freed slaves would return to Galveston, Texas, to honor Juneteenth. This celebration started spreading to other states. White people, however, began to ban any public Juneteenth celebrations, so the Black community got creative in how they celebrated.
In 1872 in Houston, Black community leaders purchased land specifically to accommodate Juneteenth celebrations. The land, rightfully named Emancipation Park, still bears this name.
Early celebrations commonly included rodeos, baseball, horseback riding, and voting rights education for newly freed Black people.
Celebrations Today
Juneteenth celebrations around the country are jubilant and full of hope and empowerment for the Black community. Some of the ways Juneteenth is commemorated include:
- Cookouts
- Church Services
- Parades
- Musical Performances
- Public Readings
- Street Fairs
- Family Gatherings
Typical menu items for a Juneteenth cookout include red foods such as red velvet cake, strawberries, and watermelon, as red is a symbol of ingenuity and resilience in bondage. Strawberry soda can be found at most Juneteenth gatherings. Because of its southern roots, Juneteenth food typically also includes a barbecue.
Today, Juneteenth also celebrates Black culture, life, and history. Other ways you can celebrate Juneteenth include ordering something from a Black-owned business, reading a book by a prominent Black American, enjoying music from Black artists, watching movies, documentaries, or TV shows about the holiday, donating to charities and organizations that fight for the Black community, and visiting a museum dedicated to Black culture. These things don't have to just take place on June 19th, though. You can implement them all year long.
The Juneteenth Flag
In 1997 an official flag was adopted by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation to represent what Juneteenth means. It incorporates red, white, and blue, like the American flag, showing that the formerly enslaved people were and are Americans. It has a red and blue stripe that creates a horizontal line, signifying new horizons and opportunities. In the middle of the flag, a star of Texas is shown bursting with new freedom.
Red, black, and green are also significant, as they represent the colors of the Pan-African flag. This flag, created in 1920, honors those of African descent, and it signifies Black freedom and liberation.
While the 4th of July is often celebrated as the day Americans received independence from Great Britain, Juneteenth was a critical marker along the path to all Americans realizing their independence and freedom.
As the founder of LNO Greek, I’m proud to help my sisters from historically black sororities honor their unique heritage, culture, and style. My Delta Sigma Theta apparel is designed to fit every unique taste and body type and send a message that, regardless of skin tone or background, you can be yourself–independent and strong. For me, that’s the central message of Juneteenth!