People across Greater Cincinnati are gearing up to celebrate Juneteenth Day.
The holiday goes back to June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black residents of Galveston, Texas learned about the two-and-a-half-year-old Emancipation Proclamation from roughly 2,000 union troops arriving in the southern city. The next year on that date, Black churches in Texas organized celebrations of freedom.
The practice eventually spread across the country. It became a federal holiday in 2021. Here are a few events around Greater Cincinnati celebrating the holiday.
Cincinnati
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is hosting a day-long celebration called Juneteenth Jubilee. It will feature educational programming exploring Afrofuturism as well as music, panel discussions, film screenings and more. A walk at 10 a.m. will celebrate Dr. Opal Lee, who was instrumental in advocating for the federal holiday…