For the third straight year, the Juneteenth holiday was celebrated at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville. Members of the school’s Black Student Union joined with faculty and public supporters on June 20 to commemorate the day when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and finally recognized, two years later, by the state of Texas. It ended slavery in the United States.

There were several guest speakers, a performance by The Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir, other music that included Jazz and R&B artists, vendor booths from local black-owned businesses, and a free BBQ dinner from Big Bones Barbeque with all the fixings. Attendees sat on blankets or brought chairs to face the stage and enjoy the program, which was emceed again this year by KUTV 2 news anchor Jamie McGriff.

“One common misunderstanding is that Juneteenth marks when the slaves were freed, but that is not true,” SLCC Professor Jerri A. Harwell said. “Juneteenth celebrates what is believed to be when the last group of enslaved African Americans learned they had been freed years earlier.

“Celebrations initially began in 1866, but in 2021, after decades of advocating for it to be a national holiday, the United States made Juneteenth an official federal holiday; Utah’s 2022 legislative session made it a state holiday. This year’s celebration marks SLCC’s third annual celebration.”

The newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is celebrated on June 19. Its name comes from a combination of the month of June and the date 19, which was the date that the slaves on Galveston Island, Texas learned that they had been freed. We know from US history that Lincoln issued two Emancipation Proclamations, one in 1863 which freed all the slaves in the rebellion states, and the second one that ended slavery for all in 1865. λ