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Group requests the attention of Clinton to observe Juneteenth.
A national movement is underway to highlight the significance of one of the oldest and most recognized African-American celebrations in American history, "The 19th of June", known to many as "Juneteenth". The national Association of Juneteenth Linerage (NAJL) is urgently requesting President Clinton to issue an executive order declaring the 19th of June as Black African-American Independence Day, "Juneteenth Independence Day."
"Must we in America keep perpetuating a beautiful lie or honestly deal with the ugly truth!," states NAJL Founder & President, Lula Briggs-Galloway. "We are celebrating the fact that our ancestors in slavery first discovered they were free on the 19th of June and not the 4th of July."
It was on June 19, 1865, that Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the announcement that all slaves were to be freed, making the actual end of slavery in the United States. Unfortunately, this was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Myths abound about why it took so long for word to reach the western settlements. But, whatever the reason, when the last of the slaves finally got word they were free, it was obviously, a day of celebration, one that want on to be recognized as Juneteenth Day.
"But as the years passed, and Blacks began migrating to other areas of the country, many former slaves and their immediate descendants stopped celebrating. As a consequence, the national significance behind Juneteenth Dav has gradually faded from view," reflects Lula Briggs-Galloway. "The...
