Oxnard—The City’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration will be held Saturday, June 20, at Plaza Park.
THE event is a celebration of history, culture, accomplishments, and the journey into the future.
“Whereas, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued an Emancipation Proclamation, legally and officially declaring an end to slavery in the United States of America,” he said. “On June 19, 1865, Union Soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, rode into Galveston, Texas, to announce the Civil War had ended, and the enslaved were free.”
The announcement stated, “in accordance with the proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equity of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection, therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
This act formed the basis for Black Americans to celebrate Emancipation Day, a day set aside for this Nation to celebrate Freedom from enslavement on June 19. This date was the beginning of the 19th Freedom Day Celebrations, as former slaves celebrated their newly granted freedoms and marked the 161st year of celebration, officially becoming a Federal Holiday in June 2021, by President Joseph Biden.
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