Juneteenth Parade & Celebration in the Park

Date(s)

Day	Times
June 20th, 2015	10:00am-6:00pm

Description

Sat. 6/20 at 10am: Juneteenth Celebration Parade and Park event! Parade starts at Ave. A & Broadway then proceeds to Mae Simmons Park. Sponsored by the Unified Juneteenth Commission.

The Unified Juneteenth Commission is an organization focused on Unifying our Community by bringing together people from all walks of life, to celebrate a pivotal time in history. With your help, we believe this event will be a memorable one. Please come out to be apart of one of the best celebrations Lubbock has ever had!

Juneteenth refers to June 19, 1865, the day that Union General Gordon Grainger rode into Galveston Bay, Texas and read Executive Order #3, proclaiming "all slaves are free." Executive Order #3 came two years, six months and eighteen days after the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 in which President Abraham Lincoln granted freedom to all slaves in the confederate states.

Juneteenth is celebrated in some form in every state in the United States as well as in several foreign countries, including Africa; however, Texas is the only state in which Juneteenth is an official state holiday. In 1980, freshman State Representative from Houston, Al Edwards sponsored legislation making Juneteenth a state holiday.