The Meaning of Juneteenth

By Shayna Whitley, President, PG&E Black Employee Resource Group

For years, I’m sure many of us woke up each June 19 and proceeded with whatever activities the day had in store. We may have gone to work, on a vacation, or even watched an NBA Finals game. Perhaps we heard Juneteenth mentioned once or twice but for a lot of people, myself included, June 19 was just another day on the calendar.

Truthfully, it did not become more than that to me until I went to Hampton University and began to understand the parts of history that were glossed over in my public school textbooks. The parts that vividly described the brutality of slavery and what people who look like me endured in some of the same soil you and I may now vacation on.

Shayna Whitley standing in Hampton University's Ogden Circle after her graduation.

In a day and age of real-time information at my fingertips, it wasn’t until I learned and really processed that it took over two years after the 1863 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation for all enslaved people to gain their freedom that I fully felt the significance of Juneteenth.

On June 19, 1865, Union Army Gen. George Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to read General Order No. 3 that proclaimed freedom for all enslaved people in Texas, the last state to get the order. On the campus of Hampton University, founded only three years later in 1868, June 19 became more than a regular day for me and last June, that day became more than a regular day for all of us when it became a federal holiday.

On Juneteenth, we not only celebrate the end of a painful era, we also celebrate the beginning of a convalesced one. An era where, with the support of advocates, African Americans are no longer only three-fifths of a U.S. citizen and have made advancements that, in the not so distant past, once seemed impossible. We celebrate an era of possibility, community and continued growth.

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If you’re interested in learning more about Juneteenth and its importance to our shared world and  American history, there are some online resources below. At PG&E, the Black ERG is playing host to a webinar featuring Nicka Sewell-Smith, a renowned genealogist who will talk about the Freedmen’s Bureau, created near the end of the Civil War to help newly freed slaves transition into society.

You can also attend events within PG&E’s service area. For instance, there’s Oakland’s two-day Afrocentric Juneteenth Weekend. Berkeley will be playing host to the 35 annual Juneteenth Festival. And on June 18, San Francisco will be holding the Juneteenth SF Freedom Celebration. There are also events being held in American Canyon, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara, to name a few.

JUNETEENTH RESOURCES

What You Should Know About Juneteenth (NPR)

What is Juneteenth? (history.com)

Facts, History and How to Celebrate Juneteenth (oprahdaily.com)

What Does Juneteenth Celebrate (nationalgeographic.com)

VIDEO: Freedom Redefined – Nicka Sewell-Smith’s Juneteenth Commemoration Presentation