Sojourner Truth Radio

Today on Sojourner Truth, our annual Juneteenth Special. Our guests are Danny Glover, Barbara Arnwine and Dr. Robin Kelley. On Tuesday, June 15, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would make Juneteenth a federal holiday. The bill would lead to Juneteenth becoming the 12th federal holiday. It is expected to easily pass the House, which would send it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The Senate passed the bill under a unanimous consent agreement that expedites the process for considering legislation. It takes just one senators objection to block such agreements. In 1862, former President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which had formally released over 3.5 million enslaved Black people in the Confederacy from the grip of slavery. Close to three years later, on June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger proclaimed in Galveston, Texas, that all enslaved Black people would now be free. Thus, after Granger issued the proclamation in Galveston, formerly enslaved people began cele