This June, Americans across the country will commemorate their past with barbeques, baseball games, parades, and speeches. Wait, June? These festivities may remind you of the Fourth of July but, two weeks before Independence Day, thousands of Americans will commemorate emancipation. June 19, or “Juneteenth,” honors the symbolic end to slavery in the United States, bringing new meaning to the American celebration of freedom and citizenship. As Juneteenth draws near and the nation continues to observe the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, it is important to understand the meaning of this powerful, uniquely American holiday.
The First Juneteenth
In February of 1861, a special convention in Texas—a state that supported slavery—voted to secede from the United States and become the 7th member of the newly formed Confederate States of America. For the next four years, the nation was engaged in a civil war that cost over 600,000 American lives (2% of the total American population.) During this war, the institution that had deprived generations of Africans and African Americans their freedom finally started to crumble. On January 1, 1863, United States President Abraham Lincoln’s stunning Emancipation Proclamation went into effect and declared that all enslaved people in rebellious territories were free. While this Proclamation gave millions of people their long-awaited liberty, thousands more remained enslaved until the United States military forces could spread and enforce the Proclamation.
Texas, the westernmost member of the Confederacy, remained largely untouched by war and the Proclamation. Texas even served as a refuge for many slaveholders who fled the advance of United States armies in Louisiana and Mississippi. Escaping slaveholders forcibly relocated tens of thousands of enslaved people to Texas. This flight mimicked earlier migrations of slaveholders and slaves to Texas. When Texas became a state in 1845, many slaveowners from older southern states transferred their cotton production and plantations to Texas and took advantage of the vast amount of available land. Quickly, Texas’ agricultural production, hierarchy, and support of slavery closely resembled that of the rest of the Deep South. While wealthy slaveowners dominated society, enslaved people were legally, physically and emotionally regarded as property.
Even after C.S.A. General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant in April of 1865, roughly 250,000 people still lived as slaves in Texas. Months after the Emancipation Proclamation’s author, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated, enslaved Texans were still largely unaware that the President had promised them freedom two years earlier. On June 19, that changed.
After remaining Confederate forces in Louisiana and Texas surrendered in May and June of 1865, the United States military-appointed U.S. Major General Gordon Granger to take command of the Department of Texas. On June 19, Granger arrived in Galveston, a small island off the east coast of Texas, and read aloud General Order #3:
“The people are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States [President Abraham Lincoln], all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
The order was confirmed the next day when it was printed in the Galveston Tri-Weekly News. The Emancipation Proclamation—and freedom—had reached Texas. The first Juneteenth celebration was born.
As the news of Emancipation spread, many newly freedpeople left Texas to find homes while others—some by choice and some by force—stayed to work for their former masters. Austin Grant, who was a former slave outside of Gonzales, recalled the moment he heard of his freedom:
“When the war finally was over, our old boss called us [slaves] all up and had us to stand in abreast, and he stood on the gallery and he read the verdict to ‘em…I guess when he said that they knew what he meant. The’ wasn’t but one family left with ‘im. They stayed about two years. But the rest was just like birds, they jes’ flew.”
The road to freedom and citizenship in Texas was long and grueling, but June 19 was still a powerful symbol for African Americans. From that date on, the pursuit of equality and citizenship could begin.
150 Years of Juneteenth
Americans have celebrated Juneteenth for almost 150 years, but the holiday has witnessed a lot of change. Transformations in how Americans remembered the Civil War and slavery also shaped how Juneteenth was celebrated and recognized. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, racial segregation and white Southerners’ efforts to glorify the antebellum South hindered African-American efforts to celebrate Juneteenth. Despite this adversity, former slaves and their families strove to ensure that their struggle to achieve freedom was remembered and their victory, cherished. In the decades following emancipation, Juneteenth gave African Americans the unique opportunity to commemorate their ongoing quest for equal citizenship together.
In the 1930s and 40s, war, depression and racial violence continued to threaten Juneteenth celebrations. Historian Mitch Kachun believes one could argue this period “offered no compelling reason for celebrating a freedom that had limited relevance for most African Americans’ day-to-day experiences of racial violence, discrimination and second-class citizenship.” In 1943, for example, the Richmond Times Dispatch in Virginia reported that African Americans “were asked by officials to attempt no ‘Juneteenth’ celebrations” due to recent riots in Texas. Despite the danger, Juneteenth celebrations refused to disappear and African-American Texans who left the state brought their Juneteenth traditions with them.
In the 1950s and 60s, racial tensions over the growing Civil Rights movement spilled into the public debate over how the 100th anniversary of the Civil War and emancipation should be commemorated. Historian David W. Blight argues that “for the majority [of the American public], especially of white Americans—even as they watched TV images of civil rights marchers being clubbed by police and bitten by dogs in Birmingham, Alabama—to claim the centrality of slavery and emancipation in Civil War memory was still an awkward kind of impoliteness at best and heresy at worst.” For some white Southerners, the Civil War centennial was a way rebel against Civil Rights initiatives. The story of slavery and emancipation was ignored in favor of celebrating Confederate milestones and military bravery.
The complicated and conflicting public memories of the Civil War and slavery dampened public acceptance of Juneteenth and put potential participants’ safety at risk. While many African Americans continued to celebrate Juneteenth privately, public celebrations began to decline in the 1950s and 60s. While there were some significant efforts to commemorate emancipation in other ways, including events at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield, Illinois, they failed to gain the prominence of other Civil War anniversaries.
In such a turbulent time, some members of the African American community also felt uncertain about the personal meaning and symbolism of Juneteenth. In an interview for the Institute of Texan Cultures in 1993, Dallas native Sadye Gee recalled that she “went from the ’40s to the ’60s with her [my daughter] not even being aware of Juneteenth…I felt that it was demeaning, at that time…it created some kind of anger in me… But then when I reached a rude awakening – this is part of my heritage…”
By the 1970s, a renewed communal commitment to celebrating African American history and culture also produced a rejuvenated enthusiasm for Juneteenth. In 1968, major civil rights leaders organized a Poor People’s March in Washington, D.C., gathering supporters from all over the country. Discouraged by their unsuccessful campaign at the end of June, participants received a boost in morale when Texans among them suggested a Juneteenth celebration. Juneteenth was brought to national prominence as these participants brought Juneteenth traditions home with them. In 1979, Texas made Juneteenth an official state holiday.
Support for Juneteenth continued to soar into the 1990s. The posthumous publication of Ralph Ellison’s Juneteenth in 1999 and the appearance of groups dedicated to making Juneteenth an official national holiday increased the holiday’s prominence. Following Texas’ lead, 41 states and Washington, D.C. now host some form of Juneteenth celebration. The National Juneteenth Holiday campaign by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation is one of many continuing efforts to make Juneteenth a nationally recognized holiday.
While Juneteenth is celebrated across the nation, Juneteenth is also an intensely personal event. Its traditions are vibrant, but extremely varied. Juneteenth in Galveston, Texas—one of the nation’s largest Juneteenth celebrations and the home of the first Juneteenth—will honor many of these traditions throughout the month of June.
Public demonstrations of celebration, community, and citizenship are critical traditions in Juneteenth celebrations. Segregation and racial violence haunted Juneteenth celebrations for decades so African American celebrants often struggled to find safe public spaces for festivities. As historian Elizabeth Hayes Turner states, “public space became a mighty ingredient in the forming of Juneteenth memories.” African Americans set out to acquire, or even buy, land for their celebrations. “Emancipation” parks for Juneteenth celebrations began to appear across Texas. In 1872, Reverend Jack Yates led a community-wide effort to purchase land for Juneteenth in Houston. These efforts created Emancipation Park, which continues to be a prominent public park where—among other activities—Juneteenth is still celebrated. In 1909, a similar committee led a public effort to create an Emancipation Park for Juneteenth festivities in Austin.
In Galveston, many of the Juneteenth celebrations will take place in Jack Johnson Park. Dedicated in 2012, the park demonstrates a continued commitment to celebrating African American history on Juneteenth in a cherished community space. The park’s namesake, Jack Johnson, was a Galveston native and athlete who became the first African American to win the Heavyweight Boxing Championship in 1908.
Spiritual fellowship played a powerful role in many African American communities both during slavery and after emancipation. Religious services, prayers, and hymns have always had a prominent place in Juneteenth observances. As Turner states, “from the beginning, Freedom Day celebrations included church services in which preachers and educators reminded freedpeople of the sacred solemnity of the occasion, of their duty as emerging citizens, and of their profound right to the pursuit of legal equality.” In 1892, a reverend in Austin noted that “the 19th comes on Sunday not Saturday or Monday, so lets celebrate it in praises and thanksgiving to God” and it created a program that would “give thanks to God for our freedom all day long.”
Musical traditions at Juneteenth do not stop at spirituals and hymns. Music and dance were crucial to early Juneteenth celebrations. Festivities often included singing patriotic songs, like the national anthem, or abolitionist songs. At a Juneteenth celebration in Kansas in 1895, the Parsons Weekly Blade reported that attendees sang “Hold the Fort” and “John Brown’s Body” together before listening to a presentation on the history of Juneteenth.
Modern Juneteenth celebrants often enjoy jazz, blues, zydeco or other various genres that memorialize African American contributions to music. Zydeco is a distinctive musical style that evolved out of Creole communities in Louisiana and Texas, so it is especially linked to many Juneteenth celebrations. Popular zydeco artist CJ Chenier performed in Houston in 2013 for Juneteenth, and you can hear his performance—prominently featuring instruments such as the washboard and the accordion—at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Over the past three decades, Houston has also hosted a variety of prominent blues musicians, like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Albert Collins, in honor of Juneteenth.
Multitudes of other local and national artists have contributed to the musical commemorations on Juneteenth. In 1982, the Big Budweiser Superfest headlined by Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones, called the “world’s number one rhythm and blues music festival” by the Chicago Metro News, played the Cotton Bowl for the Dallas Juneteenth celebration.
Regardless of age, race, religion or ethnicity, food has long been a familiar component—if not a focal point—on holidays. For many African Americans, Juneteenth is a special opportunity to celebrate the unique and monumental contributions enslaved people made to American cuisine. Many of the dishes associated with southern or soul food—such as barbeque, gumbo and okra—have direct African influences. (Look for U.S. History Scene’s upcoming posts on the history of some of the most beloved Southern dishes!)
Picnics, potlucks, cooking competitions, and other events that demonstrate communities’ culinary heritage are central to Juneteenth festivities. In an interview with the Institute of Texan Cultures in 1993, Lorraine O’Banion described celebrating Juneteenth as a child in Brenham, Texas where “people would come from miles and miles around… And there was barbecue and all kinds of food and, ah, pop and things.” Numerous blogs, articles, and cookbooks recommend a variety of dishes and drinks for Juneteenth that have become popular, including barbeque, strawberry soda, red rice, and cakes. Popular chefs, such as “Kitchen Diva” Angela Shelf Medearis, have contributed to the growing tableau of foods enjoyed on Juneteenth.
Galveston will host its annual Annie Mae Charles Juneteenth Picnic on June 19 and continue the tradition of food, family, and homage.
A National Event
In a few weeks, families, friends, and communities all over the United States will come together to simultaneously honor the generations who struggled in slavery and draw joy from its defeat. Almost 150 years later, Americans continue to be inspired by the men and women who finally experienced their moment of liberty on that June day in Texas. Author Kenneth C. Davis puts it this way:
“…let’s remember Juneteenth, the holiday that doesn’t mark a document, a battle, a birthday or a national tragedy, but the fundamental promise of America being more completely realized—the day on which Thomas Jefferson’s rousing rhetoric finally rang true throughout America, for all Americans.”
Mwezi Juni, Wamarekani kote nchini wataadhimisha kumbukumbu ya zamani zao kwa barbeque, michezo ya besiboli, maandamano, na hotuba. Kusubiri, Juni? Sherehe hizi zinaweza kukukumbusha siku ya nne ya Julai lakini wiki mbili kabla ya Siku ya Uhuru, maelfu ya Wamarekani wataadhimisha uhuru. Juni 19 au Juni kumi na tatu, ni siku ya mwisho wa utumwa nchini Marekani, na maana mpya kwa sherehe ya uhuru na uraia. "Kama Juneteenth inakaribia na taifa linaendelea kuzingatia ""Sesquicentennial ya Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe,"" ni muhimu kuelewa maana ya hii nguvu, kipekee Marekani likizo." Mnamo Februari 1861, mkutano maalum katika jimbo la Texas, ambalo liliunga mkono utumwa, ulipiga kura kujitenga na Marekani na kuwa mwanachama wa saba wa Jumuiya ya Madola ya Amerika. Katika miaka minne iliyofuata, taifa hilo lilishiriki katika vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe ambavyo viligharimu maisha ya Wamarekani zaidi ya 600,000 (2% ya jumla ya idadi ya watu wa Marekani). Wakati wa vita hivyo, taasisi ambayo ilikuwa imewaondolea uhuru vizazi vingi vya Waafrika na Waafrika Wamarekani hatimaye ilianza kuporomoka. "Mwezi Januari 1, 1863, Rais wa Marekani Abraham Lincoln alitangaza ""Mkataba wa Uhuru"" ambao ulitangaza kwamba watumwa wote katika maeneo ya uasi walikuwa huru." Ingawa tangazo hilo liliwapa mamilioni ya watu uhuru waliotarajia kwa muda mrefu, maelfu zaidi walibaki watumwa hadi majeshi ya Marekani yalipoweza kueneza na kutekeleza tangazo hilo. Texas, nchi iliyo upande wa magharibi kabisa wa Muungano, haikuguswa na vita wala na Tangazo hilo. Texas ilitumika kama kimbilio kwa wamiliki wengi wa watumwa waliokimbia mbele ya majeshi ya Marekani huko Louisiana na Mississippi. Wamiliki wa watumwa waliokimbia walihamisha kwa nguvu makumi ya maelfu ya watumwa hadi Texas. Ndege hiyo ilifananisha uhamiaji wa mapema wa wamiliki wa watumwa na watumwa kwenda Texas. Wakati Texas ilipoanza kuwa jimbo mnamo 1845, wamiliki wengi wa watumwa kutoka majimbo ya zamani ya kusini walihamisha uzalishaji wao wa pamba na mashamba yao kwenda Texas na kutumia faida ya kiasi kikubwa cha ardhi iliyopatikana. Upesi, uzalishaji wa kilimo wa Texas, utaratibu wa utawala, na utegemezo wa utumwa ulifanana sana na ule wa sehemu nyingine za Kusini. Wakati wamiliki matajiri wa watumwa walitawala jamii, watumwa walionwa kisheria, kimwili na kihisia-moyo kuwa mali. Hata baada ya C.S.A. Jeshi la Jenerali Robert E. Lee la Virginia Kaskazini lilijisalimisha kwa Jenerali Ulysses S. Grant mnamo Aprili 1865, na watu 250,000 waliendelea kuishi kama watumwa huko Texas. Miezi kadhaa baada ya mwandishi wa Azimio la Uhuru, Abraham Lincoln, kuuawa, watumwa wa Texas bado hawakujua kwamba Rais alikuwa amewaahidi uhuru miaka miwili mapema. Lakini tarehe 19 Juni, hali ilibadilika. Baada ya majeshi ya Confederate yaliyobaki Louisiana na Texas kujisalimisha mnamo Mei na Juni 1865, Jeshi la Marekani lilimteua Meja Jenerali Gordon Granger kuchukua amri ya Idara ya Texas. "Mwezi Juni 19, Granger aliwasili Galveston, kisiwa kidogo nje ya pwani ya mashariki ya Texas, na kusoma kwa sauti amri ya jumla # 3: ""Watu wanaarifiwa kwamba, kulingana na tangazo kutoka kwa Mtendaji wa Marekani, watumwa wote ni huru.""" Hii inahusisha usawa kamili wa haki za kibinafsi na haki za mali, kati ya mabwana wa zamani na watumwa na uhusiano uliokuwapo kati yao, unakuwa kati ya mwajiri na kazi ya kukodisha. <unk> Amri hiyo ilithibitishwa siku iliyofuata wakati ilichapishwa katika Habari za Galveston Tri-Weekly. Tangazo la Uhuru - na uhuru - lilikuwa limefika Texas. Sherehe ya kwanza ya Juni kumi na moja ilizaliwa. Kadiri habari za Emancipation zilivyoenea, watu wengi waliofunguliwa hivi karibuni waliondoka Texas ili kupata nyumba wakati wengine - wengine kwa chaguo na wengine kwa nguvu - walibaki kufanya kazi kwa mabwana wao wa zamani. "Granz, ambaye alikuwa mtumwa wa zamani nje ya Gonzales, alikumbuka wakati aliposikia juu ya uhuru wake: ""Mapigano yalipoisha, bosi wetu wa zamani alituita sisi wote [watumwa] na alitufanya kusimama kwa karibu, na alisimama kwenye ukumbi na kusoma hukumu kwa 'em... Nadhani wakati alisema kwamba walijua alichomaanisha." Haikuwa ila familia moja iliyobaki na 'im. Walikaa huko kwa miaka miwili hivi. """Njia ya uhuru na uraia huko Texas ilikuwa ndefu na ngumu, lakini Juni 19 bado ilikuwa ishara yenye nguvu kwa Wamarekani wa Kiafrika." Kuanzia tarehe hiyo na kuendelea, jitihada za kupata usawa na uraia zingeweza kuanza. Mwaka wa 150 wa Juni, Marekani imekuwa ikisherehekea siku ya Juni kwa miaka 150 lakini siku hiyo ya likizo imeshuhudia mabadiliko mengi. Mabadiliko katika jinsi Wamarekani walivyokumbuka Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe na utumwa pia yaliunda jinsi Juneteenth ilivyosherehekewa na kutambuliwa. Katika karne ya kumi na tisa na mapema ya ishirini, ubaguzi wa rangi na juhudi za wazungu wa Kusini kutukuza Kusini ya kabla ya vita ilizuia juhudi za Waafrika-Wamarekani kusherehekea Juni. Licha ya hali ngumu, watumwa wa zamani na familia zao walijitahidi kuhakikisha kwamba mapambano yao ya kupata uhuru yaliikumbukwa na ushindi wao ukaheshimiwa. Katika miongo iliyofuata uhuru, Junieteenth iliwapa Wamarekani wa Kiafrika fursa ya kipekee ya kuadhimisha utafutaji wao wa kuendelea wa uraia sawa pamoja. Katika miaka ya 1930 na 40, vita, mshuko wa kiuchumi na vurugu za rangi ziliendelea kutishia sherehe za Junieteenth. "Mwanahistoria Mitch Cachun anasema: ""Hakuna sababu ya kusisitiza ya kusherehekea uhuru ambao ulikuwa na umuhimu mdogo kwa Wamarekani wengi wa Kiafrika, uzoefu wa kila siku wa vurugu za rangi, ubaguzi na uraia wa darasa la pili."" - Richmond Times, Virginia, 1943." Licha ya hatari, sherehe za Juni kumi na mbili zilikataa kutoweka na Watexans wa Kiafrika-Wamarekani ambao waliondoka jimbo walileta mila zao za Juni kumi na mbili pamoja nao. Katika miaka ya 1950 na 1960, mvutano wa rangi juu ya harakati ya Haki za Kiraia iliongezeka na kuenea katika mjadala wa umma juu ya jinsi ya kuadhimisha miaka 100 ya Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe na uhuru. "Mwandishi wa historia David W. Blight anasema kwamba ""kwa wengi wa umma wa Marekani, hasa wa wazungu wa Marekani, hata walipoangalia picha za televisheni za waandamanaji wa haki za kiraia wakipigwa na polisi na kuumwa na mbwa huko Birmingham, Alabama, kudai kuwa utumwa na uhuru ni muhimu katika kumbukumbu ya Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe bado ilikuwa aina ya ukosefu wa adabu katika hali bora na uasi mbaya zaidi.""" Hadithi ya utumwa na ukombozi ilipuuzwa kwa ajili ya kusherehekea matukio muhimu ya Confederate na ujasiri wa kijeshi. Kumbukumbu ngumu na zenye kupingana za umma za Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe na utumwa zilipunguza kukubalika kwa umma kwa Juni na kuweka usalama wa washiriki wa uwezekano katika hatari. Wakati wengi wa Afrika-Wamarekani waliendelea kusherehekea Juni kumi na moja kwa faragha, sherehe za umma zilianza kupungua katika miaka ya 1950 na 1960. Wakati kulikuwa na juhudi za kukumbuka uhuru kwa njia nyingine, ikiwa ni pamoja na matukio katika Lincoln Memorial huko Washington, DC na kaburi la Lincoln huko Springfield, Illinois, walishindwa kupata umaarufu wa maadhimisho mengine ya Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe. Katika wakati huo wenye msukosuko, baadhi ya washiriki wa jamii ya Waafrika wa Amerika pia walijisikia wasio na uhakika kuhusu maana ya kibinafsi na ishara ya Junieteenth. Katika mahojiano yake na Taasisi ya Utamaduni wa Texas mwaka 1993, Sadie Gee, mzaliwa wa Dallas, alikumbuka kwamba yeye 'alienda kutoka miaka ya 40 hadi miaka ya 60 na yeye [binti yangu] hata hakujua kuhusu Junieteenth... nilihisi kwamba ilikuwa ya kudhalilisha, wakati huo... iliunda aina fulani ya hasira ndani yangu. Mwaka 1968 viongozi wa haki za kiraia waliandaa maandamano ya watu maskini huko Washington DC, wakikusanya wafuasi kutoka kote nchini. Wakiwa wamefadhaishwa na kampeni yao isiyofanikiwa mwishoni mwa Juni, washiriki walipata kichocheo cha kiakili wakati Watexans miongoni mwao walipendekeza sherehe ya Juni. Juneteenth ilileta umaarufu wa kitaifa kama washiriki hawa walileta mapokeo ya Juneteenth nyumbani nao. Mwaka 1979 Texas ilifanya Juni 19 kuwa sikukuu rasmi ya serikali. Msaada kwa Juneteenth uliendelea kuongezeka katika miaka ya 1990. Baada ya kifo chake, Ralph Ellison alichapisha kitabu chake cha Junieteenth mnamo 1999 na kuonekana kwa vikundi vilivyojitolea kufanya Junieteenth likizo rasmi ya kitaifa iliongeza umaarufu wa likizo hiyo. Kufuatia uongozi wa Texas, majimbo 41 na Washington, D.C. sasa huandaa aina fulani ya sherehe ya Juni kumi na moja. Kampeni ya Jumapili ya Kitaifa ya Jumapili na Shirika la Kitaifa la Jumapili ni moja ya juhudi nyingi zinazoendelea kufanya Jumapili kuwa likizo inayotambuliwa kitaifa. Wakati Juneteenth ni sherehe katika nchi nzima, Juneteenth pia ni tukio intensely binafsi. Desturi zake ni zenye nguvu, lakini ni tofauti sana. Juneteenth katika Galveston, Texas - moja ya taifa kubwa Juneteenth sherehe na nyumbani ya kwanza Juneteenth - itakuwa heshima wengi wa mila hizi katika mwezi wote wa Juni. Maonyesho ya umma ya sherehe, jamii, na uraia ni desturi muhimu katika sherehe za Junieteenth. Ubaguzi wa rangi na vurugu za rangi zilitisha sherehe za Juni kumi na moja kwa miongo kadhaa kwa hivyo washereheshaji wa Kiafrika wa Amerika mara nyingi walijitahidi kupata nafasi salama za umma kwa sherehe. Kama mwanahistoria Elizabeth Hayes Turner anavyosema, "mahali pa umma likawa kiungo chenye nguvu katika kuunda kumbukumbu za Juni kumi na moja". Wamarekani wa Kiafrika walianza kupata, au hata kununua, ardhi kwa ajili ya sherehe zao. Hifadhi za "Ukombozi" kwa ajili ya sherehe za Juni kumi na moja zilianza kuonekana kote Texas. Mwaka 1872 Reverend Jack Yates aliongoza juhudi za jamii nzima kununua ardhi kwa ajili ya Junieteenth huko Houston. Jitihada hizi ziliunda Emancipation Park, ambayo inaendelea kuwa bustani maarufu ya umma ambapo <unk>miongoni mwa shughuli nyingine<unk>Juneteenth bado huadhimishwa. Mwaka 1909 kamati ya umma iliongoza juhudi za kuunda Emancipation Park kwa ajili ya sherehe za Junieteenth huko Austin. Huko Galveston, sherehe nyingi za Juni kumi na moja zitafanyika katika Hifadhi ya Jack Johnson. Hifadhi hiyo ilijengwa mwaka 2012 na inaonyesha kujitolea kwa kuadhimisha historia ya Waafrika wa Amerika katika nafasi ya jamii inayotunzwa. Jack Johnson, ambaye ni mwanariadha wa kwanza wa Afrika-Amerika kushinda mashindano ya ndondi ya uzito mzito mwaka 1908. Ushirika wa kiroho ulikuwa na umuhimu mkubwa katika jumuiya nyingi za Waafrika Wamarekani wakati wa utumwa na baada ya uhuru. Huduma za kidini, sala, na nyimbo za nyimbo sikuzote zimekuwa na sehemu muhimu katika sherehe za Juni kumi na moja. "Kama Turner anasema, ""Kuanzia mwanzo, sherehe za Siku ya Uhuru zilijumuisha ibada za kanisa ambapo wahubiri na walimu waliwakumbusha watu huru juu ya utakatifu mtakatifu wa tukio hilo, wajibu wao kama raia wanaojitokeza, na haki yao ya kina ya kutafuta usawa wa kisheria."" - Austin, NY, Oktoba 19, 1892 (Mwanzo 19, 2019) " Muziki na dansi zilikuwa muhimu katika sherehe za mapema za Juni kumi na moja. Mara nyingi sherehe hizo zilitia ndani kuimba nyimbo za uzalendo, kama vile wimbo wa taifa, au nyimbo za kuondoa utumwa. Katika sherehe ya Juni 19 huko Kansas mnamo 1895, gazeti la Parsons Weekly Blade liliripoti kwamba wahudhuriaji waliimba "Hold the Fort" na "John Brown's Body" pamoja kabla ya kusikiliza uwasilishaji juu ya historia ya Juni 19. Jumapili ya leo huadhimishwa na muziki wa jazz, blues, zydeco na muziki mwingine unaohusisha watu wa asili ya Afrika. Zydeco ni muziki wa muziki wa asili wa Louisiana na Texas, na kwa hivyo ni maarufu sana katika sherehe za Juni. Mwanamuziki maarufu wa zydeco CJ Chenier alicheza Houston mnamo 2013 kwa Junieteenth, na unaweza kusikia maonyesho yake - hasa akishirikiana na vyombo kama vile washboard na accordion - katika Tamasha la Folklife la Smithsonian huko Washington, D.C. Katika miongo mitatu iliyopita, Houston pia imekaribisha wanamuziki wa bluu maarufu, kama vile Lightnin 'Hopkins na Albert Collins. Makundi mengine ya wasanii wa ndani na kitaifa wamechangia maadhimisho ya muziki kwenye Juni kumi na moja. Mwaka 1982, Big Budweiser Superfest, iliyoongozwa na Stevie Wonder na Quincy Jones, iliitwa "Tamasha la muziki wa rhythm na blues la kwanza ulimwenguni" na Chicago Metro News, ilicheza kwenye Cotton Bowl kwa sherehe ya Dallas Junieteenth. Bila kujali umri, jamii, dini au kabila, chakula kwa muda mrefu imekuwa sehemu ya kawaida - kama si uhakika wa msingi - kwenye likizo. Kwa Wamarekani wengi wa Kiafrika, Juni ni fursa maalum ya kusherehekea michango ya kipekee na ya ukumbusho ya watu waliotumwa waliofanya kwa vyakula vya Amerika. Vyakula vingi vinavyohusiana na chakula cha kusini au roho kama vile barbeque, gumbo na okra vina ushawishi wa moja kwa moja wa Kiafrika. (Tafuta machapisho ya hivi karibuni ya U.S. History Scene juu ya historia ya baadhi ya vyakula vya Kusini vinavyopendwa zaidi!) Picnics, potlucks, mashindano ya kupikia, na matukio mengine ambayo yanaonyesha urithi wa vyakula vya jamii ni muhimu kwa sherehe za Juneteenth. Katika mahojiano na Taasisi ya Utamaduni wa Texas mnamo 1993, Lorraine O'Banion alielezea sherehe ya Juni 19 kama mtoto huko Brenham, Texas ambapo watu wangekuja kutoka maili na maili karibu na kulikuwa na barbeque na aina zote za chakula na, ah, pop na vitu. Wapishi maarufu, kama vile <unk>Kitchen Diva<unk> Angela Shelf Medearis, wamechangia kuongezeka kwa orodha ya vyakula vinavyopendwa siku ya Juni. Galveston itakuwa mwenyeji wa Annie Mae Charles Juni 10 Picnic ya kila mwaka mnamo Juni 19 na kuendelea na utamaduni wa chakula, familia na heshima. Katika wiki chache zijazo, familia, marafiki na jamii kote Marekani zitakusanyika pamoja kuwaheshimu vizazi vilivyopambana na utumwa na kufurahia ushindi wake. "Wamarekani wanaendelea kuchochewa na wanaume na wanawake ambao hatimaye walipata wakati wao wa uhuru siku hiyo ya Juni huko Texas.""" "Kenneth C. Davis, mwandishi wa kitabu cha ""Juneteenth,"" alisema: ""Jumla ya kumi na tisa, sikukuu ambayo haifanyi kumbukumbu ya hati, vita, siku ya kuzaliwa au msiba wa kitaifa, lakini ahadi ya msingi ya Amerika kutimizwa kabisa, siku ambayo hotuba ya Thomas Jefferson hatimaye ilisikika kweli kote Amerika, kwa Wamarekani wote."""