All Opportunity Council offices are closed Monday, June 19th for Juneteenth. The day celebrates and commemorates the day enslaved Black people in the Confederate state of Texas who weren’t immediately freed after the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863, learned about the Proclamation which legally ended slavery.
June 19th marks the day in 1865, over two years after the proclamation, when army troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to announce an executive decree: the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state finally received word that they were free. Newly freed people in Texas coined the name “Juneteenth.”
This occasion marked the start of a period of hope where formerly enslaved Black Americans worked to reunite their families, establish schools, run for political office, and enact radical legislation, and were able to change the country in countless new ways. We acknowledge the fight for racial justice & freedom for all is ongoing, and as a Community Action Agency, the Opportunity Council supports this through building just, equitable communities via service, investment, and collaboration.
Freedom is a thread, and a fight, woven through this nation’s history and current political climate. Continue to take action to celebrate and ensure true freedom for all through awareness of racial disparities, mobilization, and bold actions necessary to further the fight for social justice and equal opportunity.
-NAACP
An Emancipation Day celebration held June 19, 1900 in "East Woods" on East 24th Street in Austin. Credit: Austin History Center.
