June 19th is Juneteenth, commemorating the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved people in the United States. However, the fight for Black liberation was not resolved with the end of slavery and the US Civil War, and this day reminds us of the injustice and brutality in our nation’s history.
The holiday is celebrated on June 19th because, on that date in 1865, Union soldiers announced to enslaved persons in Texas that the US Civil War had ended and that they had been freed from bondage by the Emancipation Proclamation (two years prior in 1863). Freed Black and Afro-Indigenous people from Texas brought the celebration with them when they migrated to nearby places like Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Mexico and—even farther—to California, Oregon, and Washington State.
Learn more about the history of Juneteenth.
As an organization dedicated to empowering voters and defending democracy, the League is committed to building a future of progress and equity for all.
Learn more about how the League works to expand and protect the vote.
