History is a life-long, much-loved topic for me. Last Fall, during a month long camping trip that took us to the Canadian border with Maine, we spent one night at a Virginia state park near Appomattox. It was my first visit to the place where Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9, 1865.
I was surprised by Juneteenth. I can’t say I had never heard of it until 2020, but that was the year Juneteenth entered my consciousness. That was also the year the Tulsa Race Massacre entered my consciousness. Oddly, I have Donald Trump to thank for this twin awakening.
Juneteenth (June 19th) became a federal holiday in 2021. It commemorates June 19, 1865 as the date a federal army in Texas effectuated Lincoln’s January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth has long been part of our African American culture, but many of the rest of us are just waking up to it.
From “Juneteenth commemorated in Galveston, Texas, where holiday began,” by Nakylah Carter, ABC News
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