June 19, 2026
As the years go by, on this 19th day of June, it has become sacred for me, a day of Jubilee – a feast of celebration, of freedom. Even before it was made a federal holiday in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, I was aware of its history. It is also the day my Second child was born.
In 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that ALL enslaved (Freedmen, Persons of Color, Negroes) were free.
Although President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it couldn’t be fully enforced in Confederate states until Union troops took control. Texas was the most remote, and it took over two years for the news to reach the 250,000 enslaved people there.
You see, exactly 50 days prior, on May 1, 1865, “Decoration Day,” was created by formerly enslaved Union troops, in Charleston, South Carolina. This was to #honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. Reminder: Union Soldiers were not only Republicans. While the Republican Party was heavily associated with the Union war effort under President Abraham Lincoln, the Union Army was a politically diverse coalition composed of Republicans, Democrats, and men with no party affiliation.
I can’t help but recognize that in a sense, this was a day of #pentecost. #decorationday was 50 days BEFORE June 19, 1865, a precursor
***A person’s humanity with dignity is NEVER determined by political party or race or any social construct. It is divinely affirmed and validated by GOD alone, the Creator of heaven and earth.
We hold these truths to be self-evident that all are created equal. Endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, inherent. IRREVOCABLE, and can never be taken away by any earthly government, monarch or legal system.
Ashe`.
All images are in the public domain, NARA (National Archives and Records Administration)