Hi there friend —
Juneteenth is a day to honor the last groups of enslaved people in Galveston Bay, Texas, who finally got word of their freedom on June 19, 1865 — two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved Americans in the Confederate states.
Juneteenth was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, but Black communities have celebrated Freedom Day for decades. We invite you to learn more about the significance of the holiday from the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Unfortunately, emancipation from slavery did not mean the end of systemic racism and discrimination. Black communities and other communities of color have been historically marginalized by redlining and other racist tactics. Today, we see the effects of these tactics plainly: Black Americans are more likely than whites to be impacted by pollution, and black, brown and low-income communities have been hit first and worse by the impacts of climate change. And Black Americans still face barriers to registering to vote and casting a ballot.
Scroll down for a list of the events we’ll be attending to honor Juneteenth or you can check it out on our website! Reply back to this email with other suggestions to add to our list!
Thanks for all you do,
Emily Gale
Director of Civic Engagement
Democracy for All - PennFuture |
