Juneteenth honors African American liberation through art and social action. What does Juneteenth mean to you?

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Juneteenth honors African American liberation through art and social action. What does Juneteenth mean to you?
A Juneteenth parade in Flint, Michigan, in 2018.Associated Press
  • June 19 - or Juneteenth - is commemorated by many Black Americans as an independence day.
  • Black communities have been honoring the end of US slavery for years - the US as a whole is only now catching up.
  • Email celebratingjuneteenth@insider.com and tell us how you're commemorating June 19.
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Cities and states across the country Saturday will officially commemorate Juneteenth.

The public holiday honors 156 years since Union army soldiers first arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform some of the country's last remaining enslaved African Americans that the Emancipation Proclamation - signed by President Abraham Lincoln two years prior - had established their freedom.

But for many Black communities, the commemoration of the end of US slavery has already been a longstanding tradition - it's the nation as a whole that is only now catching up.

Although campaigns to make Juneteenth a federal holiday remain unanswered, the lack of formal recognition hasn't stopped its remembrance.

From parades and pageants, Juneteenth is a celebration of African American liberation through art, music, performance and social action.

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So what does Juneteenth mean to you? And how you celebrate it? Insider's Voices of Color wants to hear from you.

Email us: Tell us how you're celebrating the holiday, and what the day means in light of this past year's racial justice movement at celebratingjuneteenth@insider.com. Send us photos of parades you've attended in your community, perhaps a cookout you hosted before the pandemic hit. We'll be following up with you to hear more about your story.

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