All Americans should celebrate this day!-----Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day | History | Smithsonian

Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day | History | Smithsonian:

• Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, American slavery came to an end and a celebration of freedom was born

"America’s birthday is fast approaching. 
But let’s not wait for July 4 to light the fireworks. 
...Juneteenth falls on June 19 each year. 
It is a holiday whose history was hidden for much of the last century. 
But as the nation now observes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s onset, it is a holiday worth recognizing. 
In essence, Juneteenth marks what is arguably the most significant event in American history after independence itself—the eradication of American slavery.
...This year, let’s remember Juneteenth, the holiday that doesn’t mark a document, a battle, a birthday or a national tragedy, but the fundamental promise of America being more completely realized—the day on which Thomas Jefferson’s rousing rhetoric finally rang true throughout America, for all Americans."
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