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Juneteenth has long been celebrated by Black people and across communities of color. The holiday references June 19, 1865, two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, when a document declaring the end of slavery was read publicly in Galveston, Tex., by a U.S. Army general. Now the day is getting broader recognition, as numerous American companies, including some in fashion, are making it a paid holiday. Congress will likely take up the issue as well, and Juneteenth could, and should, become a national holiday.
How great and long overdue for our country to formally celebrate the end of slavery, and by doing so, come face-to-face with the horrific devastation it wrought and that is ongoing. Not so great that this reckoning comes only after the killings by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and too many others, acts that have shaken American