*** Please note that all KDL branches will be closed on Thursday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth.
By Hannah Moulds, Community Engagement Librarian
On June 19th, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” or Freedom Day, by the newly freed people of Texas. Juneteenth isn’t a straightforward story of emancipation. In fact, the day came a full two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, so this significant and historical marker recognizes just a small piece of the long journey to liberation and the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality for Black Americans.
Juneteenth is a day of celebration, but it is also still a fight—it provides us an opportunity to honor ourselves and our progress as a nation, but also reminds us that there is so much more that can be done for all people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized and affected by poverty and inequality.
Read more about Juneteenth:
Adult Book List
Child Book List
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