(Chelsea Update would like to thank Joanne Ladio and Mary Keaton for the information in this story.)
The Chelsea City Council recently passed a proclamation declaring June 19, 2024, as Juneteenth Independence Day and the Chelsea Human Rights Commission would like to invite all area residents to observe and celebrate Juneteenth.
The Human Rights Commission will have a table at Sounds & Sights on June 20 with information on Juneteenth and souvenir give-aways.
Juneteenth is one of the oldest celebrations in the US. It recognizes the day when all Black Americans truly became free under our Constitution. Although the Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves on Jan 1, 1863, it wasn’t until more than two years later when the word finally reached the last group of enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas.
On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger announced, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free…”
It became an annual holiday almost right away in Texas and has been celebrated ever since in the African-American community. It joined the calendar of national holidays in June 2021 and it became an official State of Michigan holiday in 2022. Many business and government offices will be closed in recognition of this day celebrating freedom and equality and paying honor to those who suffered from the evils of slavery.
For more information, come to the HRC information table at Sounds & Sights on June 20 or email HRC@city-chelsea.org.
