Juneteenth celebration expands despite civil rights backlash
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Portsmouth African Burying Ground Memorial, which honors more than 200 enslaved people whose graves were paved over and forgotten until their accidental rediscovery during road construction in 2003, in Portsmouth. N.H. Photo: Courtesy of Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire
Celebrations of Juneteenth, the new federal holiday that honors the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas, are growing amid a general backlash on civil rights and discussions on racism.
Why it matters: Like Pride, companies are pulling back of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives around race, and the Trump administration reinterprets Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism."
- But the popularity of Juneteenth and the momentum around the holiday appears to help it expand around the country — for now.
Zoom out: Portsmouth, the New Hampshire city where an enslaved woman escaped President George Washington's pursuit, will host a gathering for Juneteenth of direct descendants of some of America's founding fathers and the people they enslaved.
- Oakland, Calif.-based Red Bay Coffee will release this month a "Juneteenth Limited Release" coffee named Intango Rwanda, a light-medium roast grown high in the hills of Gatagara Village by the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative.
- The Library of Congress commemorate Juneteenth with a "program focused on the themes of family and home." The library will encourage visitors to meet a staff expert from the Manuscript Division, and learn about items from the Library's Abraham Lincoln Papers.
- Organizers in Houston, north of Galveston, Texas, the site of the original Juneteenth, will host a series of events including a cook-off and a tour of historic Black neighborhoods.
- Portland, Ore., will play host to another Black rodeo on Juneteenth.
State of play: The rapid commercialization of Juneteenth comes as some states pass laws limiting the discussion about enslavement in public schools and as some GOP lawmakers press for the return of Confederate monuments.
Catch up quick: This is the fourth year that Juneteenth has been a national holiday since President Biden signed legislation in 2021.
- It commemorates June 19, 1865 — the day Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, with words that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed by President Lincoln more than two years before.
What they're saying: "Juneteenth is a reckoning and allows us to give the country another narrative," JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, told Axios.
- Boggis said it's also a time to remind the country of important allyships between white and Black Americans that helped to end enslavement.
- "That's part of the story," she said.
Zoom in: From June 8-19, artists, historians and community leaders will gather for a 10-day series of walking tours, dedications, talks and film screenings in New Hampshire, a sign of how far Juneteenth are spread.
- Organized by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, the events will be held in Portsmouth, where Ona Judge, an enslaved woman in President Washington's household, escaped to freedom and defied recapture.
- The events will include a conversation with Laurel Guild Yancey, descendant of Portsmouth's Prince Whipple – a Black man who fought in the Revolutionary War while enslaved by Declaration of Independence signer William Whipple.
Bottom line: Juneteenth continues to evolve and expand across the country, finding support to grow.
