What is Juneteenth, you may ask? A holiday also known as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Liberation Day, and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is a holiday enshrouded in mystery for many Americans. However, Juneteenth simply commemorates the day that the promise of freedom was finally fulfilled for the last enslaved Americans.

The word “Juneteenth” is a portmanteau of “June” and “Nineteenth”. On June 19th, 1865, federal troops rode into Galveston, Texas, to announce that all enslaved people must be freed. Although President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation over two and half years earlier, many slave-holders had kept their slaves in the dark about the news.

When the remaining enslaved persons were informed of their status as newly freed, the celebrations commenced. Fortunately, we have firsthand accounts of the jubilation that day, through the work of the Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, a national program enacted during the Great Depression to keep writers working by sending them throughout the country to document the stories of ordinary people. One of their writers interviewed Felix Haywood, who learned of his freedom on Juneteenth. When describing the joy that day, Haywood said, “We was all walkin’ on golden clouds… Everybody went wild…We was free. Just like that we was free.”

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom.

For local government, this is an opportunity to build morale in your communities, educate your citizens, and take part in cohesion-building celebrations. After a century and a half of observation by Black American communities, local government leaders have introduced legislature acknowledging the day as a holiday.

Governor Wolf signed Act 9, “Juneteenth National Freedom Day”, into law in 2019, creating a holiday closure of government offices under the state’s jurisdiction to allow state employees to observe Juneteenth. In October of 2020, Allegheny County Council voted unanimously to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Early this year, Pittsburgh’s mayor submitted legislation that would make Juneteenth an official holiday for the city.

So, what can you do?

Scores of municipalities are hosting celebrations. The Western Pennsylvania Juneteenth Celebration will be 10 days long this year across the City of Pittsburgh, starting with a Kickoff Fest in Chartiers Park. On June 19th, there will be a Soul Train Dance Line to set Guinness World Record for the longest dance line yet. The Pittsburgh Black Music Festival will be occurring from June 24th through the 27th.

The Commemorative Juneteenth Grand Jubilee Parade will occur on June 26th, featuring historical reenactments of the inaugural 1870 parade that marked the passage of the 15th Amendment, which codified the right to vote for Black men.

In the City of Johnstown, the Johnstown chapter of the NAACP will hold a celebration of Juneteenth in Peoples Natural Gas Park with the Johnstown Juneteenth Music Celebration.

This holiday is more than a celebration, it’s a commemoration—a Day to Honor Freedom. Juneteenth is about America finally honoring its foundational promise: that all people are indeed equal.