General Order Number 3, read by Union General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865 from the balcony of Ashton Villa, Galveston, TX. "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."
So what's Juneteenth? For African-American Texans and increasingly, African-Americans no matter where we're from, it's a century plus old celebration of our emancipation from slavery.
And here's a post I wrote last year about the origins of the holiday you can peruse while I scarf up my barbecue and wash it down with strawberry soda.
