Juneteenth June 19, 1865
FIRST JUNETEENTH NATIONAL HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE
JUNE 19, 2021
REMARKS BY DR. NAOMI RUTH BARBER
COFOUNDER OF THE A. D. KING FOUNDATION
TODAY MARKS A MOST NOTABLE OCCASION. ON JUNE 17, 2021, PRESIDENT BIDEN, THE 46TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SIGNED INTO LAW THE DECLARATION OF THE JUNETEENTH NATIONAL HOLIDAY. WE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE AMERICA’S NEWEST NATIONAL HOLIDAY, JUNETEENTH.
There have been many prayers, tears, and efforts to bring this day to pass. In the midst of all of the celebrations, I am glad to see that a dream has finally been realized. I thank God, all elected officials, and everyone who helped get a bill passed and signed into law to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
June 19th marks the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas learned that slavery had ended in the United States when President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was enacted on Jan. 1, 1863. ON THAT DAY, JUNE 19TH, 1865, THE FORMER SLAVES CELEBRATED THE FIRST JUNETEENTH.
For me, this day is remindful of that now a long-ago day in l1983 when the MLK Holiday was born. There were tears of joy and healing on that day. America came together to acknowledge the human race as a family. That was the last National Holiday to be introduced into America, until today.
Now, nearly 40 years later, another dream is realized. Juneteenth is a holiday. Let us take this new step together, celebrate JUNETEENTH, hoping for that day when all of God’s children, red and yellow, black and white will truly come together as brothers and sisters, and sing that old hymn of unity: FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE FREE AT LAST.
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