“We need to know so that people can heal from it and never let it happen again,” said Lee, whose four-kilometer walk through Fort Worth symbolizes the two-and-a-half years it took. President Abraham. The Lincoln Declaration of Emancipation ends slavery in the southern states to free the enslaved people of Texas. A year after President Joe Biden signed into law making June 19 the nation’s 12th federal holiday, people across the United States gathered for events full of music, food and fireworks. The celebrations also focused on learning about history and tackling racial inequalities. Many blacks celebrated the day just like before any official recognition. June, also known as Freedom Day, commemorates the day 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to order freedom for the state’s enslaved people – two months after the Confederacy surrendered to the Civil War. “The great nations do not ignore their most painful moments,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday. “They are facing them in order to become stronger. And that is what this great nation must continue to do. “ A Gallup poll found that Americans are more familiar with Juneteenth than last year, with 59% saying they knew “a lot” or “a few” about the holidays, up from 37% a year ago in May. The poll also found that support for June school part-time courses increased from 49% to 63%. However, many states have been slow to designate it as a public holiday. Lawmakers in Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere have failed to push for proposals this year that would close government offices and give most of their civil servants pay. The celebrations in Texas included one in a Houston park created 150 years ago by a group of former male slaves who bought the land. At times, it was the only public park available in the area for the Black community, according to the guard’s website. “They wanted a place where not only could they celebrate, but they could do other things during the year as a community,” said Jacqueline Bostic, vice president of the Emancipation Park Conservancy board and great-granddaughter of one of the park’s founders, the Most Reverend Jack Gates. This weekend’s celebration included performances by The Isley Brothers and Kool & The Gang. In the weeks leading up to Juneteenth, the park hosted discussions on topics ranging from healthcare to policing and the role of green spaces. Participants included Robert Stanton, the first African-American to serve as director of the National Park Service, and Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, who grew up in the historic black neighborhood where the park is located and whose murder by a police officer of Minneapolis two years ago sparked demonstrations around the world. As more people learn about Juneteenth, “we want to take advantage of it and use it right now as a tool to educate people about history, not just African American history, but American history,” said Ramon Manning. Chairman of the Board of Emancipation Park Conservancy. In Fort Worth, the festivities included the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, named after the black cowboy believed to have introduced the bulldog or rudder. Rodeo president and CEO Valeria Howard Cunningham said the children often expressed surprise that there were real black cowboys and cowboys. More young people are involved in planning June events, said Torrina Harris, program director for the Nia Cultural Center in Galveston, the birthplace of the holiday. The Juneteenth provides an opportunity to reflect on “the different practices or rules that run counter to the values of freedom” and to think about how to challenge these things, Harris said. Some of the city’s biggest celebrations from Los Angeles to Chicago to Miami not only touched the history of slavery in America, but also celebrated the culture, business and food of blacks. In Phoenix, hundreds of people gathered for an annual event in Eastlake Park, which was a focal point for civil rights in Arizona. The recently crowned Miss Juneteenth Arizona used her platform to talk about how she felt empowered during the state pageant, which is part of a nationwide contest that showcases and celebrates black women’s academic and artistic achievements. It’s “a time to build brotherhood, not to compete for a crown, it’s to celebrate black women’s intelligence and stay true to ourselves,” said Shaundrea Norman, 17, whose family is from Texas and grew up knowing about the Juneteenth. . Kendall McCollun, a 15-year-old Teen Miss Juneteenth Arizona, said the holiday was about fighting for social justice. “We have to fight twice as hard to have the same freedoms that our ancestors fought for hundreds of years ago,” he said. “It’s important that we continue to fight for my generation and this day is important to celebrate how far we have come.” The event included performances by the Kawambe-Omowale African Drum & Dance and speeches by politicians about ways residents could engage in local politics as children received balloon animals and ran to the Eastlake Park playground. In New York, the Juneteenth was celebrated in its five boroughs, with events that attracted crowds that exceeded the organizers’ expectations. In downtown Brooklyn, more than 7,000 people attended a food festival hosted Saturday and Sunday by Black-Owned Brooklyn, a digital edition and catalog of local black businesses. Although Juneteenth is a black holiday in America, the festival organizers said they intended to include cuisines and flavors from Caribbean and West African countries. On Sunday, long queues formed from almost every dining counter, while a DJ played soul music for the festively dressed attendees. “The idea of celebrating June around our food culture is especially important here in Brooklyn, where we have so many blacks living here from all over the world,” said Tayo Giwa, co-founder of Black-Owned Brooklyn. “Paying tribute to it through our common connection to the (African) diaspora is really powerful,” he said. The event took place at the Weeksville Heritage Center, which was one of the largest black communities for free before the Civil War. Attendees were given guided tours of the site, which include historic homes and other structures once inhabited by the community’s founders. “For a day of emancipation, it makes sense for people to gather on this earth and nurture each other not only with food but also with spirit and soul, emotion and love,” said Isa Saldaña, program director and partnerships for Weeksville Heritage. Centre. “A big part of it (Juneteenth) is learning to be free and feel good doing it,” he said. Jeffrey Whaley Sr. attended the festival with his three children on Sunday, which was also Father’s Day. The native of Staten Island, New York, said he was optimistic that the Juneteenth federal celebrations would raise awareness of the history of Black Americans in the United States. “As each of us grows older, we need to grow in the awareness that we have suffered far more than we are told we did,” Whaley said. “It is our duty to our ancestors to take care of educating ourselves and improving ourselves in this country, because this country owes us a lot.”
Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee and Aaron Morrison in New York contributed to this report. Mumphrey reported from Phoenix and is a member of the Associated Press Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on
