Juneteenth is a National Holiday !

Juneteenth National Independence Day is now the 12th U.S. national holiday !

Juneteenth has been a notable day for many Black people for years, especially in the South. That remembrance became more popular over the course of the last year. During the protests of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor last year, the discussion of Juneteenth being a national holiday became national news.

There was much support for the movement, as well as pushback from those that believed that the holiday was insignificant. However, the overwhelming support of the movement overcame and the bill went to Congress. On Thursday, after much deliberation and compromise, President Joe Biden signed a bill establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday.

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans. On that day in 1865, Union soldiers led by Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in the coastal city of Galveston, Texas, to deliver General Order No. 3, officially ending slavery in the states. This act of liberation came after years of fighting in the Civil War, resulting in the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Juneteenth National Independence Day will become the 12th legal public holiday, including Inauguration Day, and the first new one created since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.

The holiday legislation passed this week with overwhelming support in both chambers of Congress. The Senate approved the bill unanimously Tuesday night, and the House passed it in a 415-14 vote.

Biden, in what he called “one of the greatest honors” of his presidency, signed the bill on June 17th. 

“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” Biden told the East Room crowd after signing the bill. 

“They embrace them.”

Demetrius Sadler| Twitter: @thademigod7