Juneteenth: NYC Celebrations Of The End Of Slavery

NEW YORK, NY — Juneteenth – the day slavery was officially abolished in the U.S. 152 years ago – is being celebrated across New York City this month.

June 19, also known as Freedom Day, came two days after Union soldiers, led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended. On Juneteenth, Granger stood on the balcony of a building in downtown Galveston and read General Order No. 3 to a crowd gathered below.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” Granger declared.

Granted, this was two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official Jan. 1, 1863, but it meant that four million African-Americans in the Confederate South were freed after centuries of enslavement.

In New York City, celebrations will be held in M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden in the Lower East Side’s Sara D. Roosevelt Park, located on Rivington between Chrystie and Forsyth streets. The event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. June 17 and is free to attend.

In East New York, a Juneteenth event will be held at Gershwin Park. Held June 17 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the park’s entrance between Linden Boulevard and Vermont Street, the Family Fun Day will have the theme of youth empowerment.

Lead image: Juneteenth Memorial Monument in Austin, Texas via Jennifer Rangubphai