Why Is Juneteenth Important? Get Into Our Freedom Day!

#Roommates, today is June 19 and it’s a celebration y’all! Every year on this day Americans celebrate Juneteenth to remember the end of slavery after the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared that all slaves were free on Jan. 1, 1863, but a lot of slave owners chose to ignore the proclamation.

According to Dallas News, even after Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, news of the victory didn’t hit Texas until May. A Union Army general showed up in Galveston, Texas on June 18 and read an order that slaves were liberated on June 19, freeing the last remaining enslaved people in the United States.

Donnie had a few words to say about this day!

“As a Nation, we vow to never forget the millions of African-Americans who suffered the evils of slavery,” Donnie said in a statement. “Together, we honor the unbreakable spirit and countless contributions of generations of African Americans to the story of American greatness. Today we recommit ourselves to defending the self-evident truth, boldly declared by our Founding Fathers, that all people are created equal.”