Annual NC Juneteenth Celebration

From Annual NC Juneteenth Celebration Website:

June 17, 2017

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation set the United States on the path of ending slavery. A wartime measureissued by President Abraham Lincoln, the proclamation freed relatively few slaves,but it fueled the fire of the enslaved to strike for their freedom. The celebration of Juneteenth originates from Galveston,

Texas,where on June 19, 1865 the word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the enslaved. Often cited as the African American Independence Day, Juneteenth has been the subject of city,state,and federal legislation in recent years, establishing it as a special day of recognition,and as one of the fastest growing events in the country.