When Federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1965, they did so with the intent of enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation, not merely publicizing it. Texas was a long way from Washington, D.C. and still the frontier of America in the 1860s, but rest assured, news as significant as the Emancipation Proclamation would have spread there within two years.<\/p>\n
Lincoln announced Emancipation Proclamation even earlier, on September 22, 1862.<\/p>\n
Think about it.<\/p>\n
Of course the enslaved people of Texas\u2013to one degree or another\u2013knew about their freedom. People talk. Word travels. Even then. Even among enslaved people denied education, news, and freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
And of course the white slaveholders knew about the Proclamation as well. They read papers and traveled and talked.<\/p>\n
The news existed, the Proclamation existed, what failed to exist in Texas for two-plus years was anyone to enforce it.<\/p>\n
That is what Juneteenth commemorates.<\/p>\n
The enforcement of freedom. Freedom realized.<\/p>\n
One of many lessons the National Juneteenth Museum<\/a> in Fort Worth intends to share when it opens in 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cThe enslaved people of Texas were fully aware of their emancipation with the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation,\u201d Jarred Howard, CEO of the National Juneteenth Museum, told me in a phone interview. \u201cFor two and a half years they were unable to enjoy a liberty that the law provided for them, and so the celebration of the last Confederate state to emancipate their enslaved citizens is certainly one that’s worthy of the books, hence the significance of Juneteenth.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Howard had been wrongly led to believe the \u201clearning about their freedom\u201d Juneteenth myth before starting at the Museum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe put a great deal of effort and resources into making sure that what we present in terms of the Juneteenth story is accurate, and so it was during that work we discovered some of the things that we misunderstood before, not the least of which is (the Black residents of Texas) were fully aware of their emancipation, to be sure,\u201d Howard explained. \u201cJust another fact, on December 31, 1862, the enslaved people of Texas celebrated what was called Freedom’s Eve. They went to a local black church and they were celebrating their imminent emancipation, which was due them, which they anticipated getting the next day, and that was the precursor to what still happens in Black churches across the country called Watch Night.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Now you know.<\/p>\n Another piece of the American History puzzle put in place. A clearer, more accurate picture of the nation comes into view.<\/p>\n After debuting last year, the National Juneteenth Museum once again hosts its signature annual event, Freedom Vibes<\/a>, a 10-day festival running June 11th through the 20th in Fort Worth featuring concerts, cultural demonstrations, art exhibitions, educational workshops, and more.<\/p>\n Part of the \u201cmore\u201d includes performances by Black choirs, recognizing their essential role in Black communities today, but also harkening back to the first Watch Night. Fort Worth native and 20-time Grammy Award winner Kirk Franklin<\/a> hosts Freedom Vibes\u2019 free Celebration of Choirs on June 14.<\/a><\/p>\n Juneteenth, Opal Lee, And Fort Worth TOPSHOT – US President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to US retired teacher and activist Opal Lee in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2024. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS \/ AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n When Federal troops announced to the residents of Texas\u2013Black and white\u2013that they had arrived to enforce emancipation, they did so from Galveston. Galveston was a particularly nettlesome nest of secession and Texas\u2019 primary port. Much of the state\u2019s connection with the world was through Galveston. Galveston was a big deal until being obliterated by a hurricane in 1900<\/a>, never to reclaim its previous significance.<\/p>\n Galveston would seem like the natural location for the national Juneteenth museum. Fort Worth, however, in the 21st century, makes more sense.<\/p>\n Start with Fort Worth now being the 10th largest city in the United States, and next door neighbor Dallas being the ninth largest. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has 8.5 million people. Just over 50,000 people live in Galveston, which is out of the way on the Gulf Coast. In addition to all those residents, Dallas-Forth Worth has two major international airports and four interstates funneling into it.<\/p>\n \u201cWith all due respect to our friends in Galveston, and we are well connected to the Galveston movement, we do Juneteenth a disservice if we put a national museum in Galveston that doesn’t have the type of visibility that you’ll get in a Dallas-Fort Worth area,\u201d Howard explained. \u201cThat’s one component. The second component is, for all intents and purposes, the global face of Juneteenth is Opal Lee. Opal Lee is a Fort Worthian. As a consequence, she draws a great deal of attention by virtue of the fact that she lives in Fort Worth.\u201d<\/p>\n Opal Lee<\/a> learned about Juneteenth growing up in Fort Worth. She went on to become an educator, social worker, historian, and activist. For decades, she sought greater awareness for Juneteenth. Her activism paid off on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, officially establishing June 19 as a national holiday. Lee, then 94 years old, was in attendance and recognized.<\/p>\n \u201cMiss Opal has had a Juneteenth museum in Fort Worth for the last 20 years, and so ultimately, we’re simply scaling what already existed,\u201d Howard said.<\/p>\n As icing on the cake, the City of Fort Worth has committed $15 million to the project.<\/p>\n What inspired Lee to devote her life to the promotion of Juneteenth? As a Black resident of Texas, part of her motivation is obvious.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s always been a proponent of individual liberties for as long as she\u2019s been alive, but we think there’s a little bit of an omen, if you will,\u201d Howard said. \u201cMiss Opal’s childhood home was burned down by what the Fort Worth Star Telegram referred to as a white mob of about 500 people. They had just moved into the home, and apparently they moved on to the side of the street where Black people were not welcome. The mob destroyed their home and burned it down; that happened to have been on June 19, 1939. The correlation there, obviously, June 19 being a significant day where Miss Opal and her family didn’t get to experience freedom in the way they thought they might, and so her affinity for all things freedom and individual liberties was born even as a child.\u201d<\/p>\n Goosebumps.<\/p>\n Now 99 years old, Lee is expected to attend Freedom Vibes, the specific days and events dependent on her health.<\/p>\n Freedom Attendee enjoy first Freedom Vibes festival in 2025.<\/p>\n Philip Dunlap, courtesy of the National Juneteenth Museum<\/p>\n June 19, 1965.<\/p>\n January 1, 1963.<\/p>\n July 4, 1776.<\/p>\n 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. A nation supposedly founded upon freedom, although freedom was denied a great number of its residents from the beginning through the present day.<\/p>\n On Juneteenth, the nation\u2019s founding principle was expanded.<\/p>\n \u201cThe through line there is freedom. July 4, 1776, is all about freedom and emancipation, and June 19, 1865, is all about freedom and emancipation,\u201d Howard said. \u201cMiss Opal believes we should be celebrating freedom from June 19 through the Fourth of July. The bedrock of America is freedom, and freedom sits at the foot of both the Fourth of July and Juneteenth.\u201d<\/p>\n American freedom is backsliding.<\/p>\n Voting rights Opal Lee\u2019s generation fought and died for and enjoyed for 60 years have been washed away by a Supreme Court <\/a>and state houses from Texas to Florida seeking to restore Jim Crow racial hierarchy<\/a>. The old Confederacy.<\/p>\n White supremacists, in response to gains made by minorities during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s broadening who was able to participate in and enjoy American freedom, liberty, and democracy, planned and plotted<\/a>. They were patient<\/a> and well-funded. They started small. They built a foundation in corporate America, the media<\/a>, politics, and the courts<\/a>. They frayed the edges, then, when the time was right, went for the whole shebang.<\/p>\n Now, a bigot occupies the White House<\/a>.<\/p>\n His regime is rife with white nationalists<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fascism has descended upon America<\/a>.<\/p>\n Black History is being erased<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Voting Rights Act has been trashed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Racial gerrymandering<\/a> is taking place in a dozen states to remove Black representation in government.<\/p>\n \u201cVoting is indeed a right for every American citizen, and there should be no exclusions,\u201d Howard said. \u201cWe, as bona fide American citizens, are bullish about making sure that American citizens enjoy all of the liberties that the Constitution provides for every person. We have a workshop as a part of the Freedom Vibes festival that is all about voter education. We’re not telling people who to vote for, we’re telling them why you should vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Freedom Vibes, the National Juneteenth Museum\u2019s next major milestone comes this fall with groundbreaking on its $70 million museum building<\/a>. October 7 to be exact. Opal Lee\u2019s 100th birthday.<\/p>\n More From Forbes<\/p>\n FORBES | By Chadd Scott![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/63f75d611f80fdf6005afa1ca354254a.jpeg\"\/)
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HBCU\u2019s, Rosenwald Schools, And Education\u2019s Historic Role In Democracy And Equality<\/a><\/p>\n