MIAMI, FL – For the second year, Miami-Dade County will recognize and commemorate “Juneteenth” – a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” celebrated on the 19th of June each year to observe the official emancipation of the last group of enslaved people in the United States. The Miami-Dade Black Affairs Advisory Board, (BAAB), invites you participate in one or more of the following community sponsored events being held throughout Miami-Dade County.
The holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on that date in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army landed in Galveston, Texas, and informed slaves that the Civil War had ended and slavery had been abolished per the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, signed by President Abraham Lincoln January 1, 1863. Since then, it has also been billed as “Emancipation Day” and recognized in several states, including #OurCounty.
Miami-Dade County is one of the country’s most culturally and ethnically diverse county and the third most populous state in the nation; its Black population is comprised of some 20% of this dynamic metropolis, speaking English, Kreyol, Spanish, and other languages. BAAB aims to foster communication and develop strategies to address issues that impact Black constituents.
