Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday., Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation., “This is American history, world history, Texas history, and most of all, Galveston history, because Galveston, Texas is the birthplace of Juneteenth,” said Collins, a seventh generation Texan., Juneteenth, the nation's most recent federal holiday, is celebrated by Americans on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States and has a history going back to the 1860s., More people, however, have leaned into the Juneteenth flag created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith, who founded the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. Like the American flag, it is red, white and blue to indicate those freed are also Americans. The five-point white star in the middle is a tribute to Juneteenth’s birthplace of Texas., Q: How is Juneteenth celebrated? It varies, but many people will have BBQs or cookouts, play games, have live musical performances, tell stories, etc. It is much like many other summertime holidays in that respect, except Juneteenth also centers Black pride, history, and accomplishment, so the Black National Anthem may be sung, or the Black Pride flag displayed, and stories about Black .