Why We Celebrate Juneteenth
Juneteenth represents a shared history rooted in freedom, perseverance, and strength for the African American community. Our stations will be commemorating Juneteenth with local coverage of events and celebrations and provide insight into the Black experience and Juneteenth’s impact on the past, present and future.
Hello there, TEGNA friends and colleagues. I’m Mia Gradney at the KHOU 11 News Studios wanting to extend my Juneteenth Greetings from the birthplace of Juneteenth. Our Houston studios are just 60 minutes north of the coastal community of Galveston, Texas, where in 1865 enslaved people learned of their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
On June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers arrived with word of a proclamation. Celebrations immediately commenced. The newly freed migrated and relocated to places like Houston, establishing communities and purchasing land with the intention to have a safe space for generations to come, to celebrate. Emancipation Park is a Texas landmark. But even us Texans welcome and recognize this is no longer just Texas history and a Texas holiday.
While we’ve been celebrating Juneteenth in Southeast Texas for decades, we’re thankful everyone across the country now has the designated time to celebrate and reflect on the true spirit of this holiday. And although it’s a holiday steeped in difficult history, it’s a shared history, our history, about freedom, and it’s one we can all learn more about together.
We hope you are inspired to seek out the stories people and places in your community who build off the Juneteenth legacy, celebrating diversity through community and thoughtful journalism. It’s what we do, it’s what we love, on Juneteenth and every day.
