Juneteenth is a holiday observed on June 19th to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. First observed in Texas, where slaves were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation on that date in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, President Joe R. Biden has now signed a bill to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Lauren Egan reports this development in an article published by NBC News. Here is an excerpt:

President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law Thursday, officially making June 19 a federal holiday and giving national recognition to a day commemorating emancipation.

“Juneteenth marks both a long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and the promise of a brighter morning to come,” Biden said in a signing ceremony at the White House. “This is a day, in my view, of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the first female and Black vice president, said designating a federal holiday “makes an important statement.”

Read the full article here.