One hundred fifty-five years ago.

This post shares a brief timeline for historical context of Juneteenth, resources for learning, and a few thoughts from me.

July 4, 1776

The United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

January 1, 1863

The United States Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 stated, "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

June 19, 1865

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It is also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Black Independence Day. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX, and announced the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery. Although the Emancipation Proclamation came 2½ years earlier on January 1, 1863, many slave owners continued to hold their slaves captive after the announcement, so Juneteenth became a symbolic date representing African American freedom (Congressional Research Service R44865).

Juneteenth Resources:

• Emancipation Proclamation Transcript. National Archives at archives.gov.

• Juneteenth: The story behind the 155-year-old holiday that commemorates the end of slavery. CBS This Morning, June 19, 2020, YouTube.

• Opinion | Why Juneteenth Matters. New York Times, June 19, 2020.

• What is Juneteenth – and should it be a federal holiday in the US? The Guardian, June 18, 2020, YouTube.

Thank you to Daniel Pink for sharing the New York Times article. It reminds us:

Emancipation wasn’t a gift bestowed on the slaves; it was something they took for themselves, the culmination of their long struggle for freedom, which began as soon as chattel slavery was established in the 17th century, and gained even greater steam with the Revolution and the birth of a country committed, at least rhetorically, to freedom and equality. In fighting that struggle, black Americans would open up new vistas of democratic possibility for the entire country.

I hope you find these Juneteenth resources useful. Let’s commit to learning and — most importantly — to doing to oppose and change institutionalized racism and structured disadvantage in the United States of America. We must if we are to live up to the first word in our name. United.