Brooklyn's Juneteenth celebrations this year will be marked with special significance as a growing lists of protests are being planned in support of Black Lives Matter.
The holiday commemorates the day when news of Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. While black Brooklynites of the 19th and early 20th century often held celebrations on or near January 1 when the proclamation was officially released, by the late 20th century Juneteenth had evolved into a national, rather than just regional, celebration of African American family, freedom and achievement. Texas was the first state to declare it a public holiday in 1980. It isn't an official holiday in New York State; it was declared a commemorative day rather than public holiday in 2004.
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Photo by Susan De Vries Brooklyn's Juneteenth celebrations this year will be marked with special significance as a growing lists of protests are being planned in support of Black Lives Matter.
The holiday commemorates the day when news of Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the enslaved people of Galveston, [...]
