FREEDOM DAY | JUNETEENTH
– JUNE 19TH –
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Veritext is Proud to Honor Juneteenth
This year, as we observe Juneteenth as a Veritext holiday, we have pulled together some important resources and encourage you to reflect, learn and continue taking actions that build more inclusivity in our communities and workplace.
IN THE US
June 19 | Freedom Day
On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later.
Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas. Source
Martha Yates Jones (left) and Pinkie Yates (right), daughters of Rev. Jack Yates, in a decorated carriage parked in front of the Antioch Baptist Church located in Houston’s Fourth Ward, 1908 — Source
IN CANADA
August 1 | Emancipation Day
On March 24, 2021, the House of Commons voted unanimously to officially designate August 1 Emancipation Day. It marks the actual day in 1834 when the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect across the British Empire. Canadians are not always aware that Black and Indigenous Peoples were once enslaved on the land that is now Canada. Those who fought enslavement were pivotal in shaping our society to be as diverse as it is today.
Therefore, each August 1, Canadians are invited to reflect, educate and engage in the ongoing fight against anti-Black racism and discrimination. Emancipation Day celebrates the strength and perseverance of Black communities in Canada. Source.
Visit: Black History Awareness Society: Emancipation Day in Canada: Past, Present and Future
Emancipation Day Parade near Windsor, Ontario in the 1890’s. Courtesy Windsor Star. Source.
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