One hundred fifty five years ago today Union soldiers brought slavery to an end in Texas, two and a half years after it should have ended. Therefore June 19th, aka Juneteenth, has become a Black holiday that we should all celebrate. Now that slavery has ended, are Black people truly free?
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All of which, or none of these versions could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question. Whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory… [emphasis original]
Inserted from <Juneteenth.com>
The site referenced above is completely dedicated to Juneteenth and is a treasure trove of information on that subject. I hope you will invest the time to explore it thoroughly.
Criminal Fuhrer Trump* and the Republican Reich would return to slavery, racist violence and even lynching, if they could. The best they can do, for now, is the murder of Blacks by racist Republican Police and other Republican terrorists. Juneteenth must remind us that we are all responsible for achieving Black freedom.
RESIST!!
Video footage appears to show a masked white woman setting fire to a Wendy’s restaurant near where a black man was shot dead by police, as authorities offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of arsonists. 
