Juneteenth is celebrated every year on June 19, the day that slavery was abolished in Texas, although slavery had been abolished in many other states across the United States before this. Since Texas was one of the more remote slave states, the Emancipation Proclamation was not enforced in Texas until about 1½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

P.R. Lockhart explained the significance of Juneteenth best in his article “Why Celebrating Juneteenth is More Important Now than Ever,” when he stated, “. . .it marks the moment when emancipation finally reached those in the deepest parts of the former confederacy.”

Juneteenth has an extreme significance behind it and is one of the most important holidays that commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation.

On the subject of Juneteenth, Jamie Irwin said, “I don’t think I have ever heard of Juneteenth.” She added, “I think it’s stupid it took so long for the news to reach them.”

Juneteenth is also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. The day is celebrated all across the nation in 46 of the 50 states. Although it is not yet a federal holiday, but there is a fight for it to become one. Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday would mean that as a nation we are recognizing our past wrongs and moving forward towards a more diverse, open-minded future!