Two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to free all people still enslaved by Confederate criminals.
The day became known as Juneteenth, marking the moment when all Black Americans were finally freed from chattel slavery.
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Barack Obama said during a victory speech after becoming the first Black president of the United States in 2008.
Though many states made the day a holiday in the 1970s, it wasn’t until former President Joe Biden signed a bill in 2021 that the day became a federal holiday.
As civil rights activist Coretta Scott King once said: “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it in every generation.”
We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
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