Oooh I wanna do a thread of Juneteenth facts! Brb.

For those who don’t know, Juneteenth marks the emancipation of the last enslaved Black people in the confederacy.

It started in Texas. The announcement of freedom came on June 19th 1865 two years AFTER THE end of slavery. They were free down there, but none of them were aware of it and no one was in the rush to tell them.

And even after the announcement of freedom, they were urged to stay with their former owners.

Texan slave owners weren’t too happy about letting their property go, so they started killing them.

The first anniversary was far from a celebration because the segregation laws started to appear. In 1870, former enslaved Black people came up with $800 together and bought 10 acres worth of land. They called it emancipation park.

We even have a Juneteenth flag! But for years, many didn’t want to celebrate this day because they still didn’t see themselves as necessarily free.

The flag is similar in color to the American one to symbolize that the enslaved were Americans, the star in the middle echos back to Texas while the bursting star on the horizon stands for “a new freedom and a new people”.

Red food symbolizes strength and courage. From red drinks to red velvet cake, hot links, and strawberry pie. Big Red soda is often a choice of drink for commemoration of this day.

Red soda was the first drink freedmen and freedwomen drank which was crushed strawberry soda but now it’s common to drink its equivalent—Big red.

It also ties back to ancestry, two traditional drinks from West Africa made its way over to America with the enslaved— the Bissap (hibiscus tea) and kola nut tea.

Although it’s not a national holiday (even though it should be) it’s started to spread all over America. Today marks its 155th anniversary. Happy Juneteenth!

I also forgot to add the Emancipation Park is in Houston, Texas.

Additional facts: On January 1st, 1980, it was passed as a state holiday in Texas. The first to recognize the emancipation celebration.