United States President, Joe Biden has officially made Juneteenth a national holiday.
Gatekeepers News reports that President Biden on Thursday signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act that makes every June 19 a federal holiday.
The bill which passed the House on Wednesday with a 415-14 vote commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas, following President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
“I have to say to you, I’ve only been president for several months, but I think this will go down, for me, as one of the greatest honours I will have as president,” Biden said at the White House during a signing ceremony.
“I regret that my grandchildren aren’t here, because this is a really, really, really important moment in our history. By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, all Americans can feel the power of this day and learn from our history — and celebrate progress and grapple with the distance we’ve come (and) the distance we have to travel,” Biden said.
Gatekeepers News reports that the signing ceremony was witnessed by some 80 members of Congress including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, local elected officials, community leaders and activists.
Also, Opal Lee, the activist who campaigned to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday, was in attendance.
Biden noted that it was not enough to commemorate the holiday but to use it as a day of reflection and action.
“We can’t rest until the promise of equality if fulfilled for every one of us in every corner of this nation. That to me is the meaning of Juneteenth,” the U.S President said.
