PSRC wants to wish everyone who celebrates a happy Juneteenth!
On June 19, 1865, federal troops marched into Galveston, Texas, and took control of the state to ensure that all enslaved people were freed. This happened two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Juneteenth is a celebration in Texas with music, barbecues, prayer services, and other activities. As Black people emigrated to other parts of the country the celebration spread.
Texas became the first state to recognize it as an official holiday in 1979, and several others followed suit. In 2021, Congress passed a resolution making Juneteenth a federal holiday; President Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021.
For Juneteenth, PSRC wants to celebrate by providing some of the region's events around the weekend to celebrate the holiday:
June 15, 2023, 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Juneteenth Commemoration (Tacoma)
June 17, 2023, 10:00 a.m. - Bremerton Juneteenth march + festival (Evergreen Park)
June 17, 2023, 11 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. - Black Farmers Collective’s Black Liberation Cookout: Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride & Juneteenth (Yesler Way)
June 17-19, 2023, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. - Northwest African American Museum Juneteenth Celebration
June 19, 2023, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.- Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebrate Freedom (ILWU Local 19 Hall)
June 19, 2023, 1 p.m. 7 p.m.- Juneteenth Market & Mixer (Communion Seattle+MadeSpaceSeattle)
June 19, 2023, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. - Juneteenth Celebration: Road to Financial Freedom (Tacoma)