FREEDOM DAY | JUNETEENTH
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Opals Walk for Freedom
Veritext is Proud to Honor Juneteenth
This year, as we observe Juneteenth as a Veritext holiday, we have pulled together some important resources and encourage you to reflect, learn and continue taking actions that build more inclusivity in our communities and workplace.
Martha Yates Jones (left) and Pinkie Yates (right), daughters of Rev. Jack Yates, in a decorated carriage parked in front of the Antioch Baptist Church located in Houston’s Fourth Ward, 1908 — Source
HISTORY OF JUNETEENTH
On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later.
Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas. Source
Group on Emancipation Day, circa 1880s, in Houston’s Emancipation Park. Reverend Jack Yates, who led the community purchase of the Park in 1872, is pictured on the far left, and his daughter Sallie Yates dressed in black in the centre — Source
COMMUNITY EVENTS NEAR YOU
MUSEUMS, HISTORICAL SITES & CULTURAL CENTERS
Below is an extensive list of museums throughout North America that celebrate, preserve,
and educate guests about African American history. Click through to find a museum near you!
Curated by: Blackpast.org
ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT
Learn more about just a few groups and organizations that work to combat racial injustice
and violence and to promote Black excellence, history, arts and culture, education, equity, and equality.
VERITEXT CARES
Social Responsibility, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, and Sustainable Operations.
