BY NICK FREED // JUNE 14, 2021
Excerpt:
Juneteenth, celebrated every year on June 19, marks the end of slavery in the U.S. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared enslaved people living in Confederate states to be free. However, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, that enslaved people in the far reaches of Galveston, Texas, were told that they were free. Since then, the day has been a celebration of freedom for Black Americans.
After an incredibly difficult year marked by widespread protests against police brutality, calls for racial equality, a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that hit Black and other minority communities hardest, and renewed discussions of the history of citizens of color in the U.S., the Juneteenth holiday takes on new importance this year—especially in St. Louis.
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