Juneteenth 2024

This Doodle, illustrated by Oakland-based guest artist Christian Robinson, celebrates Juneteenth. The federal holiday honors the liberation of Black enslaved people in the United States. On this day in 1865, news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The executive order officially ended slavery in Confederate states.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in 1863, several Confederate-led states, including Texas, continued to oppose it for years. In 1865, the tide changed, when Union troops marched to Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved Black Texans of their freedom.

Across the United States, Americans remember Juneteenth with marches, community events, and gatherings. The goal is to honor those who fought for freedom and a more equitable country in the past, and those who continue to do so today. Texas made Juneteenth an official state holiday in 1990, and in 2021 it became a federal holiday.

Happy Juneteenth!