June 19th, 1865 didn’t mark the end of our journey toward achieving freedom, equality, and justice for all Americans. Juneteenth is also a sobering reminder of the over 400-year Black American struggle for true justice in this country. The legacy of Juneteenth shows the power of Black Americans’ perseverance, strength, resilience, and refusal to give up hope, even in the most difficult and painful times.
When they heard they were free, the 250,000 plus formally enslaved Black Americans in Galveston celebrated America’s second Independence Day, Juneteenth. However, it wasn’t until “Juneteenth” – June 19, 1865, two and a half years later, that Major General Gordon Granger and approximately 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to announce the war was over and slavery had ended. President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863, declared enslaved Black people in Confederate-controlled areas were free.
This date in our nation’s history is an ever-present, too often untold reminder of the vicious and painful chattel slavery system Black men, women, and children were forced to unjustly endure for 250 years. Over 400 years ago, on August 20, 1619, a ship carrying 20-30 enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of Virginia. “While I remain doubtful that we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams, I believe we can be.”
