Celebrations are being held around the country to commemorate the Juneteenth holiday marking the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas. The observances on Thursday come even as the Trump administration has been removing content about African American history from federal websites. Nevertheless, the day remains a federal holiday. The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire has been holding events for the last two weeks, though the state itself hasn't made the holiday a permanent paid and legal one. Organizers say they want participants to think about how the story of America would change if told by the descendants of enslaved people.
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On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over and that all remaining enslaved people in Texas were free — an event now celebrated nationwide as Juneteenth.
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The United States’ newest federal holiday — celebrated annually on June 19 — has quickly become its most puzzling one. Four years after Presid…
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Although June 19 is a nationally recognized holiday, organizations across the Peninsula including the Redwood City Public Library are making s…
Lois Fried, poet and resident of Foster City, will guide a minipoetry workshop on June 10 at downtown library’s community room.
On June 7, 1998, in a crime that shocked the nation and led to stronger state and federal hate crime laws, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old Black man, was hooked by a chain to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas. (Two white men were later sentenced to death and executed for the crime; a third was sentenced to life in prison.)
Former President Bill Clinton has honored the late Sheila Jackson Lee at a memorial service in Houston. The Texas Democrat, who was one of most prominent women in Congress, died July 19 age 74. At the service Thursday, Clinton said Jackson Lee was on his "just say yes" list whenever she called him during his time in office. He said she "really believed that we are all created equal." And Clinton emphasized that "we are the longest lasting democracy in human history because we had enough people like Sheila Jackson Lee." Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver a eulogy later Thursday.
On June 19, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved by the U.S. Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster.
Next Wednesday is Juneteenth, a new holiday with a long and storied past. The posthumous publication of “Juneteenth” by Ralph Ellison, the aut…
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A ceremonial Juneteenth flag raising in San Mateo County honored the legacy of Black Americans, acknowledged the continued impact of racism an…
