Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States honoring African American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, and is recognized as a state holiday in 37 states of the United States.[1][2]
The state of Texas is widely considered the first U.S. state to begin Juneteenth celebrations with informal observances taking place for over a century; it has been an official state holiday since 1980. It is considered a “partial staffing holiday”, meaning that state offices do not close, but some employees will be using a floating holiday to take the day off.[3] Its observance has spread to many other states, with a few celebrations even taking place in other countries.
Why African Americans Need To Protect The True History Of Slavery
http://www.suite101.com/content/why-african-americans-need-to-protect-the-true-history-of-slavery-a338551
Slavery killed, separated families and erased the history of millions of Africans. That history is being distorted and African Americans must protect it.
Slavery was one of the most brutal practices ever undertaken in mass where one group of humans captured another group of humans and reclassified them as property to be used, sold and traded. The United States Constitution, in article 1, section 2, clause 3, line 2, originally classified slave as three fifths of a person, and slaves were considered property. History has a long arc, and some seem to be on a campaign to alter the perception of what slavery was, when it ended and who participated in the practice.
It is time for African Americans to take custody of the history of slavery in the United States just as those of Jewish descent protect the sanctity of the history of their people. African Americans, as others that descended from enslaved Africans around the world, need to turn that legacy from a point of pain to a point of pride. When it comes to a genealogical legacy, like it or not, slavery is the probable destination of the family tree for African Americans as the tap root back to Africa was severed.
Authentic History Of Slavery Under Attack
Various politicians are peddling a revisionist version of slavery, and it followers on, Jim Crow. One example of that is Michele Bachmann, Congresswoman from Minnesota, who offered a version of slavery that was rolled away by the founding fathers when in fact the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the United States. Many of the founding father owned slaves. An article titled “The Sorry Legacy of the Founders” by Ulrich Boser written January 4, 2004 and published in the U. S. News and World Reports details the history of our founding fathers and slave ownership.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said in a speech in Iowa that the founders of the country worked tirelessly until slavery was no more. An article titled “Anderson Cooper rips GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann over comments on slavery, diversity in the U.S.” written by Aliyah Shahid on January 25, 2011 and published in the New York Daily News goes into Bachmann’s strange rendition of history. Hers was another in a long line of attempted rewriting of the ugliest chapter of America’s existence.
African Americans Must Protect Slavery’s History
The true history of slavery is under attack, and it must be preserved as accurately as possible in order for future generations to understand the true nature of the maturation of this nation. The current state of blacks in this country has been the result of much blood, sweat and tears. Much of the blood and sweat happened during those dark days of involuntary servitude. The history of modern African Americans is anchored in this country by the slave trade. Many blacks do not like to talk about their slavery heritage because there is a void that develops when most African Americans trace their family tree back past a certain period of time.
The family tree of many black Americans disconnects when generations into the late 1800s come into play. Movement of families and sporadic recordkeeping leave many researchers at a loss and of course the practices of slavery are the reason. Families were split apart as individuals were sold and relocated. Any attachment to original African origins was long since wiped away.
Pain and sadness is all over the poor little children’s face. God only knows what & how they’ve suffered.
2011 JUNETEENTH
The streets were sweet with candy, and perhaps the taste of freedom today (Saturday), in Brenham as the annual Juneteenth Parade rolled down the city’s parade route celebrating the day in June of 1865, when a Union General landed on Galveston Bay to proclaim that Texas, and the rest of the states was now free of slavery.
For the Clouds of Thunder Drum Line and the cheering crowds gathered at courthouse it was time to beat the drums for freedom.
Some fifty floats, displays and families rode down the parade route. Some remembered times past, such as the people in the Class of 61 at Pickard High School as they celebrated their 50 year reunion.
Darron Smith of Juneteenth Association says this day is a celebration of freedom for all.
The celebrations continue at Fireman’s Park with an afternoon of festivities.
Many families have also gathered for reunions on this day, as well.
happy Junteenth!
Chester Baldwin Gospel – Wharton Juneteenth Festival
Good ole Texas Gospel! Texas Proud :)
Juneteenth Festival
Juneteenth battle of the bands
Juneteenth: A Brief History of Emancipation Day
Events around the U.S. celebrate Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. Thirty-nine states now formally observe Juneteenth after Texas state legislator Al Edwards first won passage in 1980.
http://dundalk.patch.com/articles/juneteenth-a-brief-history-of-emancipation-day
On this day in 1865, slavery was finally abolished in the state of Texas. A landmark moment not just Texas, but U.S. history, Juneteenth – a smash-up of the month, June, and the date, the nineteenth, is celebrated at events around the county today.
President Abraham Lincoln had announced the Emancipation Proclamation as an executive order almost three years earlier on Sept. 22, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation formally made the abolishment of slavery a key component of the Union Army’s mission, but, of course, it had little immediate effect in the states still under Confederate control.
With the surrender of General Robert E. Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of Major General Gordon Granger’s regiment in Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1965, Union forces were finally strong enough to overcome the resistance in the Lone Star State, according to a history page on Juneteenth.com.