the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jun 23, 2025
Juneteenth, or June 19, goes back to June 19, 1865, when Union troops came to Texas and freed the last of the people who had been enslaved at the end of the Civil War. To celebrate the end of slavery, the freedmen and women in Texas organized their own celebration the following year, June 19, 1866. This is how Juneteenth got started. Ever since then, Juneteenth has been celebrated in parts of the black community.
Juneteenth was never an official holiday for any company or government body—until 2020. In 2020, there were massive protests after the racist murder of George Floyd. Several million people came into the streets in hundreds of cities and even in many small towns.
After those protests, politicians from both parties, looking for political advantage, began to pass laws making Juneteenth an official holiday. Many corporations, like Ford, followed suit.
These politicians and corporate bosses tried to claim credit for making Juneteenth an official holiday. But the Juneteenth holiday rightfully belongs to all those people who kept alive the Juneteenth celebration for over 150 years. And it belongs to those millions of people who came out into the streets to protest.