Since Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, there has been an increase in Juneteenth celebrations across the country.
In Atlanta, the annual Juneteenth Atlanta parade and music festival celebrated its 13th year in Piedmont Park with music, vendors, food and a televised parade. Chamblee hosted an inaugural Juneteenth celebration the same weekend with food trucks and live music.
The holiday marks the day on June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas — the Western most slaveholding state — to inform enslaved Americans that they were free. The news came about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued.
Juneteenth Atlanta fest goes on despite near-cancellation amid ‘DEI attack’
Texas residents have long commemorated Juneteenth. In 1872, four formerly enslaved individuals pooled $1,000 and purchased a 10-acre site in Houston, which they named Emancipation Park. They dedicated the space to hosting the community celebrations that would later become known as Juneteenth…