Juneteenth honors the message of freedom for all humanity

An early Juneteenth celebration in the year 1900.

During the summer of 1865, slaves across the State of Texas remained unaware of President Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The 16th President had put his pen to the historic document on January 1, 1863, two and a half years prior.

Southern slave owners throughout the Confederacy ignored the Chief Executive’s declaration, which stated that slaves…