Juneteenth 2023

Posted On Thursday June 01, 2023

Contributor: The I.D.E.A Committee 

This years theme for Juneteenth of Buffalo: is “Discovering our Roots”                                                                                                                                            

Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19th. This marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed. The troops' arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The holiday received its name by combining June and 19. The day is also sometimes called “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.”  Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.  

Juneteenth celebrations in the United States typically include prayer ,religious services, speeches, educational events, family gatherings with food. In addition there are  festivals with food, music, and dancing. The day is also celebrated to recognize the end of slavery and African American freedom, as well as to celebrate African American culture, achievements, and contributions. 

This is the forty-seven consecutive year that Juneteenth has been celebrated in Buffalo, NY since 1976.  It started in 1976 by a community-based organization, B.U.I.L.D. The celebration and festivities were held on Jefferson Avenue until it was moved to MLK (Martin Luther King) Park. We celebrate Juneteenth to acknowledge our past, help heal current division and move forward.  It is a day worthy of celebration by every American. It is a day that our nation lives up to one of our greatest principles, a nation devoted to liberty for all principles, and honor the achievements of African Americans.  

 

Reasons for the decline in Juneteenth celebrations in the past                            

  • Juneteenth celebrations in the United States declined in the 1960s, overshadowed by the civil rights movement.
  • Without this day being recognized as a state holiday, it became increasingly difficult to continue these traditions and have celebrations (especially if it fell on a week day) because African Americans were not given paid time off from work. 

How did Juneteenth regain its importance?

  • The holiday began to regain its importance in 1968 when the Poor People’s Campaign, originally led by Martin Luther King, Jr., held a Juneteenth Solidarity Day. Interest in Juneteenth continued to increase in the following decades, and the first state-sponsored Juneteenth celebration was held in Texas in 1980.
  • In recent years, and particularly following nationwide protests over police brutality and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans, there is renewed attention and recognition of this important day in history that celebrates freedom.
  • On June 17, 2021, Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Bill, and it  was passed by the senate & house; establishing June 19TH as a Federal holiday. 

A Few Interesting Facts: Did you know that ….

  • Juneteenth derives its name from June 19, 1865—the day that U.S. General Gordon Granger informed the enslaved individuals of Galveston, Texas, that they were officially free.
  • This once state-only holiday is now a Federal holiday. On June 17, 2021, one hundred fifty-five years later, after the freed slaves started celebrating in Texas, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Bill was signed by president Joe Biden, and passed by the senate & house (with no opposing vote in the senate); establishing June 19TH as a Federal holiday.
  • The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
  • In reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. In some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season so that they could continue to use free slave labor. It took  2 ½  years AFTER  slavery was abolished for African Americans in Texas, to learn that  they were freeThe proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control.
  • After the war came to a close in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people.
  • That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.
  • In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday; several others followed suit over the years

Resources

 

Ways to teach and celebrate Juneteenth with students

  1. Juneteenth Quick Trivia
  2. Watch a video on Juneteenth
  3. Read All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom
  4. View, read, and discuss the actual Emancipation Proclamation 
  5. Do some emancipation lesson plans
  6. Make a red, white, and blue dessert
  7. Create a red, white, and blue layered drink for kids
  8. Read a state bill making Juneteenth a Holiday Observance
  9. Decorate your yard with Juneteenth decorations
  10. Get some ideas on how to celebrate Freedom Day
  11. Read: Black Heroes: A Black History Book for Kids: 51 Inspiring People from Ancient Africa to Modern-Day U.S.A.
  12. Make a Juneteenth trivia game with facts (above)
  13. Learn about spiritual songs of enslaved people and the hidden messages
  14. Tie dye tshirts with red, black, and green (the colors of the Pan-African flag) and red, white, and blue (the colors of the Juneteenth flag)
  15. Read the children’s book: Juneteenth for Mazie and do a Juneteenth lesson to go with it
  16. Learn about the history of Juneteenth in Texas
  17. Read: Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth
  18. Read: The First American Slaves : The History and Abolition of Slavery – Civil Rights Books for Children
  19. Use historical fiction to learn about the Civil War
  20. Play family card games or family games to promote togetherness
  21. Visit a museum honoring African American art and history (good for virtual Juneteenth ideas too!)
  22. Watch: The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross and then do a lesson plan for it
  23. Put together a puzzle celebrating Black women’s strengths and power
  24. Learn all about the Juneteenth Flag (free worksheet printable: Juneteenth flag coloring sheet)

To Learn more about Juneteenth click the links below

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