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Juneteenth Commemorates End of Slavery 06/20 06:11
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) -- Juneteenth celebrations unfolded across the U.S. on
Thursday, marking the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of
freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas and attracting participants who said
current events strengthened their resolve to be heard.
The holiday has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations, but
became more widely observed after being designated a federal holiday in 2021 by
former President Joe Biden, who attended a Juneteenth event at a church in
Galveston, Texas, the holiday's birthplace.
Biden said he was proud to sign the law making Juneteenth a federal holiday
because "all Americans should know the weight and power of this day."
"Some say to me and you that this doesn't deserve to be a federal holiday.
They don't want to remember what we all remember, the moral stain of slavery,"
he said.
The celebrations come as President Donald Trump's administration has worked
to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal
government and remove content about Black American history from federal
websites. Trump's travel ban on visitors from select countries has also led to
bitter national debate.
In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Robert Reid waved a large Juneteenth flag at
the city's African Burying Ground Memorial Park, where African drummers and
dancers led the crowd in song and dance. Reid, 60, said he attended in part to
stand against what he called Trump's "divide and conquer" approach.
"It's time for people to get pulled together instead of separated," he said.
Jordyn Sorapuru, 18, visiting New Hampshire from California, called the
large turnout a "beautiful thing."
"It's nice to be celebrated every once in a while, especially in the
political climate right now," she said. "With the offensive things going on
right now, with brown people in the country and a lot of people being put at
risk for just existing, having celebrations like this is really important."
Juneteenth's origins and this year's celebrations
The holiday to mark the end of slavery in the U.S. goes back to an order
issued on June 19, 1865, as Union troops arrived in Galveston at the end of the
Civil War. General Order No. 3 declared that all enslaved people in the state
were free and had "absolute equality."
Juneteenth is recognized at least as an observance in every state, and
nearly 30 states and Washington, D.C., have designated it as a permanent paid
or legal holiday through legislation or executive action.
In Virginia, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for rebuilding the First
Baptist Church of Williamsburg, one of the nation's oldest Black churches.
In Fort Worth, Texas, about 2,500 people participated in Opal Lee's annual
Juneteenth walk. The 98-year-old Lee, known as the "grandmother of Juneteenth"
for the years she spent advocating to make the day a federal holiday, was
recently hospitalized and didn't participate in public this year. But her
granddaughter, Dione Sims, said Lee was "in good spirits."
"The one thing that she would tell the community and the nation at large is
to hold on to your freedoms," Sims said. "Hold on to your freedom and don't let
it go, because it's under attack right now."
Events were planned throughout the day in Galveston, including a parade, a
celebration at a park with music and the service at Reedy Chapel African
Methodist Episcopal Church that Biden attended.
During a Juneteenth speech in Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore announced pardons for
6,938 cases of simple marijuana possession, which can hinder employment and
educational opportunities and have disproportionally affected the Black
community.
Moore, a Democrat who is Maryland's first Black governor and the only Black
governor currently serving, last year ordered tens of thousands of pardons for
marijuana possession. The newly announced pardons weren't included in that
initial announcement because they'd been incorrectly coded.
In New Hampshire, Thursday's gathering capped nearly two weeks of events
organized by the Black History Trail of New Hampshire aimed at both celebrating
Juneteenth and highlighting contradictions in the familiar narratives about the
nation's founding fathers ahead of next year's 250th anniversary of the signing
of the Declaration of Independence.
"In a time when efforts to suppress Black history are on the rise, and by
extension, to suppress American history, we stand firm in the truth," said
JerriAnne Boggis, the Heritage Trail's executive director. "This is not just
Black history, it is all of our history."
What Trump has said about Juneteenth
During his first administration, Trump issued statements each June 19,
including one that ended with "On Juneteenth 2017, we honor the countless
contributions made by African Americans to our Nation and pledge to support
America's promise as the land of the free."
When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked during her
Thursday media briefing whether the president would commemorate the holiday
this year, she replied, "I'm not tracking his signature on a proclamation
today."
Later Thursday Trump complained on his social media site about "too many
non-working holidays" and said it is "costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
to keep all of these businesses closed." Most retailers are open on Juneteenth,
while federal workers generally get a day off because the government is closed.
New Hampshire, one of the nation's whitest states, is not among those with a
permanent, paid or legal Juneteenth holiday, and Boggis said her hope that
lawmakers would take action making it one is waning.
"I am not so sure anymore given the political environment we're in," she
said. "I think we've taken a whole bunch of steps backwards in understanding
our history, civil rights and inclusion."
Still, she hopes New Hampshire's events and those elsewhere will make a
difference.
"It's not a divisive tool to know the truth. Knowing the truth helps us
understand some of the current issues that we're going through," she said.
And if spreading that truth comes with a bit of fun, all the better, she
said.
"When we come together, when we break bread together, we enjoy music
together, we learn together, we dance together, we're creating these bonds of
community," she said. "As much was we educate, we also want to celebrate
together."
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