Philly Councilmember asks to designate Juneteenth as a national holiday

Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District) introduced Thursday a resolution requesting the U.S. Congress to pass Senate Bill 475 and House Resolution 1320, which would designate Juneteenth as a national holiday.

“Juneteenth is the oldest recognized celebration of African Americans’ liberation from institutional slavery in the United States,” Councilmember Johnson said. “The celebration honors African ancestors who were subjected to the atrocity of slavery and celebrates the triumph of their liberation. Federal recognition of the holiday would finally give recognition to the evils of American slavery and the centuries-long fight to redeem the American creed of equality for all.”

As stated by the City Council official website, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863. But it had minimal immediate effect because the Union had to enforce the order militarily, both during and after the Civil War.

You can read: Man who carried Confederate flag at Capitol invasion was arrested

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Grangers and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Texas, the westernmost Confederate state, to take possession of the state and finally enforce the emancipation of its slaves. Two years, five months, and eighteen days after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the last of those enslaved within the borders of the United States were finally free.

An informal holiday

Philadelphians have long celebrated Juneteenth as an informal holiday, but they commemorated it as an official City holiday for the first time in 2020, by order of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. The Mayor issued a new executive order in January to declare Juneteenth an official city holiday every year through the end of his term in 2023.

On February 25, 2021, U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (Massachusetts), Tina Smith (Minnesota) and Cory Booker (New Jersey), along with U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas) re-introduced the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which makes Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Co- sponsors of the Juneteenth resolution are Councilmembers Bobby Henon, Cindy Bass, Mark Squilla, Jamie Gauthier, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Derek Green, Allan Domb, Cherelle Parker, and Helen Gym. A final vote on the resolution is expected at the March 11 City Council session.