Juneteenth remembered, how Emancipation news reached Galveston
“Weeks after the Civil War's guns fell silent and 2 months after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX…freeing enslaved people...the date they arrived — June 19, 1865 — is now remembered as the first "Juneteenth." Source: www.npr.org/2026/06/19/n...
Yup, Texas was the last state to free slaves because they didn't want to, period, they had to be forced to. That mindset continues today with Texas trying to disenfranchise black voters with gross gerrymandering.
Correction: The Emancipation Proclamation was signed 2 years and 6 months prior to the arrival of Union Troops to Galveston, TX. If they had not arrived it would have been even longer that the slaves in Texas remained slaves, know that.
went to the Juneteenth celebration in Jefferson City Missouri while I was in prison, in work release, which is the legalized 13th amendment version of slavery. coming to understand this, learning about @prisonradio.org & The incredible work they do with incarcerated people has been enlightening.
upset that this wasn't taught. More upset that our stupid news programs didn't make this known over the past 20 years. That's their role. But tbh, no one supported gay rights until it was a bloody battle. Power is not given, it is seized. Sad. Now we fight for a better society. Blood now.
Never knew about Juneteenth until President Biden made it a Federal holiday
This wasn't just a confession, it was a "Death Bed Confession" which actually holds double credibility in a court of law. eji.org/news/nixon-w... Any person voting GOP is an idiot, a shill, mentally ill, uneducated, too busy working to survive. This is how Dems should be speaking.
Freedom arriving two months after Lincoln’s assassination proves that decrees aren’t enough. Systemic oppression always hides where federal enforcement fails. That's why we fight today—to ensure justice is never delayed again ✊
May this never happen again.
Or, as MAGA Republicans like to say…”fake history.”
To put it in perspective. Telegraphs existed. People in Texas knew. Freedom was not achieved until US Troops came to Texas to free people. The Federal Government’s intervention was required to achieve freedom. Hey Supreme Court. That Federal intervention is still required in our elections!
Giving my Rainbow flag the day off to fly the Stars & Stripes! Happy Juneteenth! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
To our fellow Americans who have their lineage from slavery, and our government granted you your freedom, today we celebrate with you this Juneteenth Day. You have made it possible for people who came after, made this our dream a reality. You are the conscience of our humanity. Thank you!🚨👏🙏
It was 2 years after, right? Not 2 months.
It’s disheartening that so many Americans don’t know the reason for celebrating Juneteenth, which allows the right wing to frame it as an unnecessary “woke” holiday instead of the important historical event that it is. We really need better civics and history education in this country!
On this Juneteenth, let’s remember all the black soldiers who fought and died in Vietnam. They contributed disproportionately to our sacrifices there.
What a beautiful end to our country's most horrible nightmare
What MAGA doesn’t get is that American history isn’t about being perfect. It’s about struggling and slowly making progress. Juneteenth celebrates a huge (long overdue) positive step that made America a better, if still imperfect, nation.
I wish our history books had included black history when I was young. We must be diligent about including it in future texts.
On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people in Texas finally learned they were free when Union troops arrived in Galveston to enforce emancipation.
Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, but it is also a reminder that rights and justice are not always delivered equally or immediately. Progress has never been automatic. It has always required people willing to stand up, speak out, and push this country to live up to its ideals.
Not much has changed in Texas in 161 years. Conservative Texas politicians still trying to suppress citizens’ freedoms.
The original Juneteenth Order (see 3)
Texas has always been behind the rest of us. Especially in ignorance.
What Trump and his MAGA Republican regime haven't whitewashed that part of history yet? They've already elevated Custer to hero status and are now calling the Trail of Tears made up propaganda! Tell that to the THOUSANDS of Native Indigenous Peoples that died in THAT attempted genocide! Hiy Hiy 🪶🪶🪶
I’ve read that they of course knew that they were free but why could they do when people with guns and brutality kept them hostage essentially. It’s just that it took 2 years for them to be rescued
They had to enforce it. The Texans were not willingly letting them go. And that was just one example of thousands. We just recognized the day so that this fact wouldn’t get erased from history so easily. As you can see, that was a wise move.
Texans have always been horrible racists.
I live in Galveston they still don’t know it . Last summer they tied a black mans hands and walked him behind them while they were on horse back to jail for loitering. He won the suit
It's true that old slavery ended on paper long ago, but even today, the way workers are exploited by having their passports seized in countries like Saudi Arabia is actually modern-day slavery.
So Texas had a two year start on their crimes against minorities. Ask me if I'm surprised. 😬
It’s a shame so many racists on social media are upset people want to celebrate the day former slaves were set free. I suggest anyone that used the laugh emoji on a Juneteenth post today to actually Google and see why it is being celebrated.
Texas always trying to keep the people down.
Am I correct to assume that, NO reparations were ever made to the enslaved people—financially or otherwise⁉️ From 1776-2026 nothing has changed-We the people move one step forward, and in one day, we move 300 steps backward…💙🙏
And then it took 100 years for the Civil Rights Act of 1965 to be enacted, allowing poc to vote without poll taxes, or literacy tests. This nation is backsliding into Jim Crow. REGISTER. VOTE. VOTE 💙.
I think Texas’ moral deficiency problem could be linked to the tradition of ranching and cattle wrestling and cowboy gun fighting and all that frontier shit. You know, manly Alpha male, toxic masculinity stuff.
Texas still remains years behind true American Democracy 160 years later
Who's surprised as this is what started Texas in the first place ...
That is so frigging SAD, the people didn't want to tell slaves they were free for 2 frigging YEARS.
Today's TX GOP is still fighting that civil war trying to undo its outcomes.
My home church in Mississippi used to have an “8 o’ May” luncheon. (I asked who Ada May was) I finally figured out it was because everyone at the church had to get together to cook for themselves after slaves were freed. Thankfully they changed the name to Spring Luncheon and the proceeds go to 1/
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were finally informed of their freedom. This monumental news came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation and effectively marked the end of slavery in the United States. #juneteenth
Always nice to see you... Saw one of your first shows in NYC. And bought your first album. Still love it.
but also, it's wild that it took that long for the news to reach them, 2.5 years after the proclamation. what does that say about the system that was supposed to free them?
We should have listened to you! youtu.be/FciQeRGYFlw?...
Slavery continues in the United States limited only to being the punishment for a crime. Explicitly authorized by the Constitution. More people are subjected to this condition here than anywhere else in the world. We sell their labor to private companies. They’re disproportionately Black men.
Leave it to Texass to be the last.
whites kept them for another 2 1/2 years they shouldn't have. whites are guilty all the way through their lineage.
There’s good reason that strong box is called a “national”!
Our shame for the abomination of slavery needs to be reckoned with- as well as the persistent consequences.
Thank you for this reminder, seems there‘s still so much to be done to keep freedom and equality alive these days. It was wonderful to meet you in Mannheim, and finding out that „rumors“ are indeed true sometimes. 😃 Have a great time in Germany, all the best from Michael!
Figures Texas would be the last to emancipation there slaves.
Today we celebrate Juneteenth, the day freedom's news finally reached the last enslaved Americans in Texas, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Justice delayed is justice denied. We honor those before us and recommit to the fight for civil rights and equal justice.
That’s the part that always sticks with me. Freedom had technically been declared, but for thousands of people it wasn’t real until the news actually reached them. Rights on paper and rights in practice aren’t always the same thing.
So I guess Texans have always been like that.
"Justice delayed is justice denied." That's for sure!
Texas refused to accept the will of the country so we had to send troops to force them to comply. Yep, sounds about white!
Slavery continued in Delaware and New Jersey until the 13th Amendment was passed. Both States voted against it.
This is not true and helps limit people's understanding of the flow of history. The last person freed from chattel slavery in the US was Alfred Irving in 1942. The last family freed (by escaping) from peonage slavery was the Williams family in 1961.
Now we have concentration camps & the people in them are slaves… we are broken again
Happy #Juneteenth! On this day we celebrate freedom and our commitment to the fight against racism. Our struggles were born from the same roots. Our struggles are one. Su lucha es mi lucha. Together we are more powerful.
Happy Juneteenth to all freedom lovers in the world.
For Juneteenth—Super proud of two Alabama Public Radio newsroom interns, who helped APR win two Public Media Journalists Association nat’l First Place Awards for our civil rights series “…a death, a bridge, and a seat on the bus.” www.apr.org/news/2025-12...
I celebrate June 19, 1865, Freedom Day🇺🇸, Juneteenth🇺🇸 I celebrate progress toward “a more perfect Union”: Declaration of Independence 1776🇺🇸, Emancipation Jan,1863🇺🇸(only in confederate states) June 1865, Texas, 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Dec 1865🇺🇸, Obama Presidential Center, June 2026 🇺🇸
Feathers only lift when we work together. ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks. You too !!!! bsky.app/profile/patr...
Question for all you big farmers out there. Why not use drip irrigation? I drive through Bakersfield and I see sprinklers creating clouds of evaporated water all over the almond and mandarin groves. Is there not a more efficient way to water our crops?
Just acquired: two tiny pamphlet printings of the preliminary and final Emancipation Proclamation, published in Boston in December 1862 and January 1863. Made to be distributed freely and to be carried south by Union soldiers and given, in particular, to formerly enslaved men who might enlist.
It’s in the alt text, but just to clarify: these are now in the collections of the Boston Public Library (where I work). They’ll soon be accessible to anyone who wants to come in and see them!
I appreciate the “Vice President of the so-called Confederate States” italicized shade throwing. Nicely done there.
Genuine question. Would these men have been able to read the pamphlets? Or would there have been enough who could, to read them to others.
RACIST CONFEDERATE, TEXAS WOULD NOT INFORM THE ENSLAVED THAT THEY WERE FREE. WASHINGTON HAD TO SEND ARMED SOLDIERS TO FORCE TEXAS, TO LET THEM GO IN 1865, MORE THAN 2 AND A 1/2 YEARS AFTER THE PROCLAMATION WAS SIGNED. THAT.IS WHY WE CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH⚡️ IT WAS JUNE NINETEENTH EIGHTEEN SIXTY FIVE
@djinnandtonic.bsky.social For your art-making interests
Thank you for sharing! I did not know about this.
Do you have any ideas if these were owned by individuals or were extras? I've never heard of an item like this, super cool
Remember how the US fought a war to illegalize owning humans for forced labor, and a whole bunch of the losers decided NOT TO TELL said humans so they could continue extracting from them for YEARS? A #Juneteenth lesson: the US has a long history of not letting human rights get in the way of profit.
The history of the United States IS not letting human rights get in the way of profit.
Remember how, 160 years after that war ended, a bunch of the same whacked states tried to end Black political representation right after the supreme KKK gutted the VRA?
Slavery is still explicitly legal in the United States according to the 13th Amendment. That piece of crap amendment still explicitly authorizes slavery as punishment for a crime. We have more people subjected to this kind of slavery than anywhere else in the world. Disproportionately Black men.
Yes, a very long history and it is still ongoing.
Two months after the end of the Civil War, Union troops went to Galveston Bay, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to free over 250,000 enslaved people and enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth honors the freedom of enslaved Black people in Texas and recognizes the vital work we must do as a country to preserve Black liberation.
Not “two months”! It was more than two years!
The phrase "Did you hear that we are free?" might be one of the most powerful sentences in American history.
Please update this post. My ancestors were held for two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
If only we could free them from prejudice...it shackles too.
Juneteenth reminds us that freedom was hard fought, long delayed & never guaranteed Today we honor the resilience of those who endured, celebrate the progress made & recommit ourselves to the work that remains Remember the past. Honor the present. Build the future #Juneteenth #FreedomDay #SheShed
No one is free until all of us is free. #SheShed
Hi Corrina! On Juneteenth, we celebrate freedom earned through unimaginable suffering, resilience, and courage. We honor those who suffered, and remember the fight that continues.
Juneteenth should be every day and still those deranged Americans who voted for 47 have put equal rights, human rights and civil rights in great peril.
It is very important that we find a leader who will prioritize all of the things that matter to us most.Freedom of speech,civil rights. Diversity,equal opportunity,all of the things that we had and have lost! Together,we will find our way and today is a special day to remind us that it is possible.
Wonderful post, Corrina! Happy #Juneteenth ✌️
Happy Juneteenth to all including those who do not believe in freedom
And we still don't have it for everyone
We’ll never have a thriving democracy if we can be sent back to the Stone Age every four years. This system can’t work. End Citizen United, the electoral college. Expand the court and add term limits. Tax the rich. Codify Choice, DEI, etc. End the Cold War with the south once and for all. This is BS
June 19, 1865, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 ordering the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” #Juneteenth
Perhaps someone should read this out loud for Gov Abbott!
Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900 held in "East Woods" on East 24th Street in Austin. Credit: Austin History Center. #Junteenth
And ever since, for black people, it's been one step up and two steps back. Today's Republicans really want Jim Crow resurrected.
Two yrs ago, I proclaimed these people emancipated then, thenceforward and for ever free. The courts might decide I had no authority to do it. That's why I'd like to get the 13th Amendment through the house and on its way to ratification by the states. NOW. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE41...
For #Juneteenth: 70+ years after the Civil War, the WPA's Federal Writers' Project began interviewing elderly Americans who remembered being enslaved. These moving narratives & photos are now held here at the Library. Narratives: www.loc.gov/collections/... Photos: www.loc.gov/pictures/ite...
Somebody better make some copies and store them off-site. When MAGA learns about them (and learns about libraries) these materials will disappear. As night the library.
Library of Congress, you might consider using “American elders” instead of “elderly Americans” as it conveys more respect and affords these people the dignity they deserve. Thank you
I celebrate June 19, 1865, Freedom Day🇺🇸, Juneteenth🇺🇸 I celebrate progress toward “a more perfect Union”: Declaration of Independence 1776🇺🇸, Emancipation Jan,1863🇺🇸(only in confederate states) June 1865, Texas, 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Dec 1865🇺🇸, Obama Presidential Center, June 2026 🇺🇸
#MorningVibe #Juneteenth edition, courtesy of the one and only Jenifer Lewis. “They will NEVER erase our history.” #blackishabc
I'm really not sure if there is anyone who could have sung it with as much power as she did
I love that this put a smile on my face this early in the day. I will hold this throughout the day when things get dicey! Thank you!
Great way to start my day! Thx!
I LOVE THIS 🙏🏼 #Happyjuneteenth
Straight and to the point…’nuff said!!