Here’s What Juneteenth Looks Like In 2020 (Photos)

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June 20, 2020

TOPLINE

Juneteenth, a holiday marking the freedom from enslavement for Black people in Texas (June 19, 1865) and used to celebrate the end of slavery across the country, has been thrust into the national spotlight this year as thousands continue to protest racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis a month ago.

Protestors hold pictures of George Floyd as they march during a Juneteenth rally in New York City.

AFP via Getty Images

KEY FACTS

Juneteenth, a portmanteau of “June” and “19th,” refers to the day in 1865 enslaved Black people in Texas finally learned, at the end of the Civil War, they had been freed when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

This year, Juneteenth has taken on a new significance after a month of near-constant protests triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who was allegedly killed by a white police officer.

Thousands have taken to the streets to mark the 155th anniversary of the first Juneteenth and to continue to demand reform and protest against racism and police brutality.

President Donald Trump rescheduled a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma slated to occur Friday after facing backlash for holding a rally on Juneteenth in a city where the Tulsa race massacre, one of the worst acts of racial violence in U.S. history, took place.