Today — Juneteenth — is the American emancipation holiday. On June 19, 1865, Union Army troops marched into Galveston, Texas and officially proclaimed freedom for enslaved people there. From its origins almost 150 years ago, observance of Junteenth has spread across the country.
The National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign 
is an organization that is working to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Rev. Ronald Myers, Sr., M.D. is Chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation , as well as the Holiday Campaign. When he contacted me last year about Juneteenth, "Doc" wrote, "Juneteenth is America’s 2nd Independence Day celebration. 29 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or state holiday observance, as well as the Congress of the United States." Since last year, two more states are on that list.
There are ample reasons to observe Juneteenth. The main one is plain: It's an Independence Day , as significant as the one we celebrate on July 4th.
I also believe, without trying to be trite or simplistic, that another holiday in summer is good for the soul. Summer holidays are the best. We are outside, we gather as family and friends, we laugh a lot, cook great food. Old guys show young whippersnappers that they can still get wood on the ball, and someone learns the secret ingredient to that blue-ribbon sauce. Juneteenth comes just as school gets out for the summer, so everyone has high hopes and big plans. It's Solstice , so the day lasts till 9:00 p.m., and the kids sleep that perfect sleep after playing hard, all day. It comes a couple weeks before the 4th, so the two become inextricably connected, a "liberty period," if you will, where Americans live their independence spirit as much as they mark it.
And when you think of the hows and whys of Juneteenth and July 4th, you get the sense that the observance is a celebration in common, that we come together, with all our differences, to share a singular experience. At long last.
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