Indie Incognito Summer 2022 Issue

Spring 2022

MAGAZINE

24

Celebrating Women's History Month

On The Cover

The NFT Art of

Synthia Saint James

JUNETEENTH STATEM ENT

by Paulette JacksonIndie Incognito Associate Editor

"Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom. Freedom our ancestors fought and died for in order for those of us coming after them, can live our best lives and be our best selves carrying on the torch they first lit. We at Indie Incognito Magazine stand in honor and grace of the celebration of Juneteenth and all it stands for. Indie Incognito Magazine stands in support of creative individuality and independence in every way shape and form"

Paulette Jackson

JU N ETEEN TH T he H istory

On Freedom's Eve,? or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.

But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be

June 19 marks the annual observance of Juneteent I ndependence day, which commemorates the June 19, 1865 abolition of slavery and emancipation of enslaved people across Texas and former Confederate sates. F ollowing the end of the Civil War, the Juneteenth proclamation foramlly ended one shameful chapter of US history. Juneteenth is widely observed as a celebration of A frican A merican history and heritage.

known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freedpeople in Texas.

Emancipation Day celebrated freedom in parts of North Carolina beginning in 1862 before that same news reached Texas in 1865? known as Juneteenth (June 19, 1865). Juneteenth honors hope and freedom.

The North Carolina Museum of History invites you to observe this holiday by bringing friends and family to the museum for reflecting on the past and looking to the future.

source: North Carolina Museum Of History. A Smithsonian afilliate

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