06/19/2026
Juneteenth commemorates the end of formal slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865 two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and more than one month following the end of the American Civil War. Colloquially known as βThe Black 4th of July,β Juneteenth marks the beginning of an African American journey to carve a new place in society for free people to shape identities independent of racial caricature, eradicate slave culture, promote ethnic pride, and create economic prosperity.