All Access Will Be Closed On Monday In Observance Of Juneteenth

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ALL ACCESS offices will be closed on MONDAY JUNE 20th in observance of the JUNETEENTH federal holiday. We will re-open TUESDAY morning, JUNE 21st. If you have NET NEWS to report, click here.

JUNETEENTH has been celebrated annually on JUNE 19th in various parts of the U. S. since 1865.

CONGRESS passed legislation establishing the holiday on JUNE 16th, 2021. The following day, Pres. JOE BIDEN signed the JUNETEENTH NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE DAY ACT into law. The renewed interest in recognizing the day came about during the summer of 2020 nationwide protests over police killings of African Americans including GEORGE FLOYD and BREONNA TAYLOR. JUNETEENTH is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery.

The Black community has always been known about JUNETEENTH, but with it now being a federal holiday, it's being used as a time to honor Black culture and point to advancements made and the direction of things to hopefully come. The holiday is also called “JUNETEENTH INDEPENDENCE DAY,” “FREEDOM DAY” or “EMANCIPATION DAY.”

The History
JUNETEENTH commemorates the announcement of the end of slavery in TEXAS. The term comes from the date JUNE 19th, 1865, when enslaved Africans in GALVESTON TEXAS found out that they were free. That was 2½ years after Pres. LINCOLN signed the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION on JAN. 1st, 1863. It freed slaves in the Southern slave-holding states of SOUTH CAROLINA, MISSISSIPPI, FLORIDA, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, LOUISIANA, TEXAS, VIRGINIA, ARKANSAS, and NORTH CAROLINA..

The PROCLAMATION didn't pertain to the slave states of DELAWARE, MARYLAND, KENTUCKY, and MISSOURI. All of them fought on the side of the UNION during the CIVIL WAR. LINCOLN knew that the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION had to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.

At the time, enslaved Africans or people of African descent in America weren't citizens. They were not African Americans or Americans, they were Africans. The 13th Amendment, ratified DECEMBER 6th, 1865, ended slavery in the UNITED STATES, not JUNETEENTH. It was the 14th Amendment, ratified JULY 9th, 1868, that granted citizenship to the former enslaved Africans and their descendants living in the U. S.

For more information on the history of JUNETEENTH, click here.

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