“Juneteenth is a commemoration of the date that Major General Gordon Granger delivered General Orders Number 3 to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, more than two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Order gave instructions to Black folks to “remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.” It was the liberatory spirits of our Ancestors that took this opening to demand full freedom for Black people. Nobody gave it to us. This is the tradition of Juneteenth.

As this celebration of hard-won Black freedom makes its way into the mainstream, let’s be sure that we reckon with the history of American chattel slavery, honor the Black freedom fighters who brought its end, maintain the integrity of Juneteenth as a Black self-determined celebration, and commit ourselves fully to the continued struggle for reparations and freedom.”

Excerpts taken from: “What is Juneteenth” by Melina Abdullah, Co-Director, BLM Grassroots, June 18, 2021; https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-is-juneteenth/ ; accessed 6/9/22.