What MLK and Juneteenth stand for

by Quintin Blake

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) was an American civil rights activist and a leader of nonviolent protest and actions during the Civil Rights Movement. He was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, GA, and MLK Day celebrates the birthday of Dr. King. People celebrate who he was and his continuous impact on the African American Community and many more.

Many know and praise his accomplishments, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and those same people also know about the critical events that are close to February, Black History Month; however, many are not aware of the newly founded federal holiday as of 2021 which is Juneteenth and what it means to the people in America.

Juneteenth is an essential holiday that is not as celebrated as it should be, since many young people and adults do not realize that it is a holiday. It goes unknown to most because it takes place in the summer, which is summer break for students.

Many do not care to know, but Americans need to know and understand the importance of this momentous day in U.S. history. This holiday marks the day when slaves were officially free. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on the 1st of January in 1863, on June 19, 1865, the process took much longer to get the message out because Union soldiers with General Gordon Granger traveled to Galveston, Texas, letting people of the south know that not the war was over but slavery too, according to Sophe.org.

Now Juneteenth (June 19th) is the official day that people celebrate to commemorate the official day that slavery ended, making this day an extraordinary moment in U.S. history for the African American community and America as a whole.