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Today is Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, which commemorates when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas in 1866. It’s considered to be one of the oldest continuously celebrated African American holidays in this country and became a Federal holiday in 2021.
You’ll remember that Pres. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which declared more than 3 million enslaved people in Confederate states to be free. This didn’t end slavery as it remained legal in border states loyal to the Union (such as Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia), nor did it officially abolish slavery. That wouldn’t happen until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
And yet the Emancipation Proclamation was an enormous step forward in the process of ending the sin of slavery. More than two years passed, however, before enslaved African Americans living in Texas were freed. This finally happened when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and enforced the edict that the state’s residents finally experienced freedom.
The order read that fateful June 19th said in part: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, ‘all slaves are free’.”
Growing up in Texas, I was always aware of this holiday and its significance, but it wasn’t until I was in college that I realized people outside of the state weren’t familiar with Juneteenth. I am thankful that the Biden Administration did the work to make such an important day in American history the Federal holiday it always should have been. And in recognition of this important day, I share with you the following poem.
Written by Paul Laurence Dubar, Emancipation was crafted years after Juneteenth. And yet it’s message speaks to the heart of this important day.
Emancipation
By Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872-1906
Fling out your banners, your honors be bringing,
Raise to the ether your paeans of praise.
Strike every chord and let music be ringing!
Celebrate freely this day of all days.
Few are the years since that notable blessing,
Raised you from slaves to the powers of men.
Each year has seen you my brothers progressing,
Never to sink to that level again.
Perched on your shoulders sits Liberty smiling,
Perched where the eyes of the nations can see.
Keep from her pinions all contact defiling;
Show by your deeds what you’re destined to be.
Press boldly forward nor waver, nor falter.
Blood has been freely poured out in your cause,
Lives sacrificed upon Liberty’s altar.
Press to the front, it were craven to pause.
Look to the heights that are worth your attaining
Keep your feet firm in the path to the goal.
Toward noble deeds every effort be straining.
Worthy ambition is food for the soul!
Up! Men and brothers, be noble, be earnest!
Ripe is the time and success is assured;
Know that your fate was the hardest and sternest
When through those lash-ringing days you endured.
Never again shall the manacles gall you
Never again shall the whip stroke defame!
Nobles and Freemen, your destinies call you
Onward to honor, to glory and fame.
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