Today, June 19, 2025, known as “Juneteenth,” is the celebration of the final end of the enslavement of African Americans in the United States.
On this date, the true culmination of emancipation came with the arrival of Union General Gordon Granger (a native New Yorker) in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, almost two full years after President Abraham Lincoln ended slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation. General Granger notified 250,000 Texan enslaved Africans of their freedom and the end of the Civil War on what became known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day.
The following year, 1866, slavery was formally abolished in U.S. territories, leading to the expansion of Juneteenth commemorations, and June 19, 1866 marked the first official anniversary of Juneteenth.
This day stands as a testament to the perseverance and ultimate triumph of those who fought against the chains of oppression, while the historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of never giving up hope in oppressive times. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, and we have chosen as our organizational motto: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Information on the official NYC celebration can be found here: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2025/06/19/juneteenth-celebration