Celebration Events Scheduled This Weekend
Colorado Springs, CO, Friday, June 15, 2012 – The El Paso Board of County Commissioners has proclaimed June 17, 2012 as Juneteenth Day in El Paso County recognizing an important period in American history.
Juneteenth celebrations date back to impromptu rejoicing in June 19, 1865 when the slaves were first learning of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was signed by President Abraham Lincoln two years earlier but even as the Civil War was winding down in 1865, many enslaved African-Americans living in areas still under Confederate control had not heard the news of their freedom. But on June 19th of that year General Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston proclaiming the authority of the United States over Texas, declaring all acts of the Confederacy null and void and announcing that all slaves had been set free.
Commissioner Peggy Littleton read the Commissioners’ Resolution into the record noting, “… not caring so much as to which day freedom had come as to the fact it had come, the slaves referred to this day as “Juneteenth,” and pointing out that, “…during the years immediately following their emancipation, the freed men and women established a tradition of picnics, music and thanksgiving, and used the occasion to reflect upon the profound meaning of their freedom…”
James Tucker, State Director for Juneteenth and Caribbean American Heritage Festival, joined former County Commissioner and State Senator Ed Jones and Ed Jones and Ken Davis representing the El Paso County Black Tea Party in accepting the proclamation and thanking the Commissioners for their support.
This weekend there will be a parade and festival in El Paso County celebrating Juneteenth. For more information go to http://www.africanamericanvoice.net/ or call 719-528-1954. Click HERE for a list of events.
Contact: Dave Rose
Public Information Officer
Phone: 520-6540 Cell: 337-9239
DaveRose@elpasoco.com