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Senate passes bill to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday

Juneteenth

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Juneteenth which has been until recently, the undeclared holiday in the Black community. June 19th is known in the United States for the ending of slavery is set to become the nation’s 11th federal public holiday every year.

On the 13th of June, the US Senate unanimously approved the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing 19 June as a legal public holiday.

President Joe Biden got the approval from the House of Representatives, and June 19th has been officially signed into a national law and will go into effect January 1st.

As a federal holiday, federal employees will receive a paid day off on June 19th, or when it falls on a weekday. The first paid holiday is set to take effect in 2023. 

For now, Louisiana and Massachusetts have recently established Juneteenth as a state holiday. Illinois has made Juneteenth the official state holiday after the signing of legislation by Gov. J.B. Pritzker as well.

The holiday will join a list of legal public holidays that includes MLK Day, New Year’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On June 19, 1865 a Union general arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed slaves there that the Civil War had concluded and they were free. This was more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln officially decreed the freedom of all enslaved Americans via the Emancipation Proclamation.

After the first Juneteenth on June 19, 1965, the celebration became the nation’s oldest tradition that recognizes the abolition of slavery and freedom of African Americans and America is continuing to make sure the day that slaves were free isn’t forgotten.

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