TRANSCRIPT
[Visual description: Jesse Jones III, a dark-skinned man with locs pulled back, a beard, and blue eyes, in front of an office space.]
Juneteenth is a combination of two words, June and nineteenth, merged to become Juneteenth. I’ll explain more about Juneteenth and the point of this. It is a celebration and remembrance to honor slavery having ended. I will go back to January 1, 1863, when United States president, Abraham Lincoln, announced with his Emancipation Proclamation that slavery shall end. The civil war was still happening at that time, between the North and the South, and the fight continued until April of 1865. That was about 2 years after the president announced the end of slavery, so when the general of the South army surrendered the war finally.
Then the North army went out to let people know that slavery was truly over and that the slaves were free, no longer slaves. The North army went to Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 to inform everyone, including the black people who thought they were still slaves, that slavery had ended and the war had ended. Many black people were stunned, elated, shocked, and celebrated. Some of them decided to stay with the farms/plantations where they had been slaves all along, now becoming employees under former slave masters who became employers.
Some of them decided to flee to other cities or states (Oklahoma, Arkansas, and/or Louisiana), searching for their families who were forcibly separated from them. Back then, it was common for slaves to be forcibly separated from their families, so now that slavery was over, it meant they could search for families that were separated from them. They hoped to be reunited with their families, so they all went out. It later became an annual thing where they would try to gather back together in Galveston to search for some remaining family members, to reminisce stories of that day that the end of slavery had been announced to them, what then happened and how things changed for them, whether they had found family, and to have families be reunited.
The celebration often included BBQ, fishing, strawberry soda pop, prayers, guest speakers, etc. In the state of Texas, Juneteenth is recognized as an official state-paid holiday (like Christmas, New Year’s, etc) and in 45 other states including Washington DC, Juneteenth is an observed holiday (like Halloween, Valentine’s, etc) where people are not granted paid vacation but the holiday is acknowledged and honored. That’s the summary, thank you.