Minnesota celebrates first official Juneteenth holiday

Juneteenth celebrations in Minnesota this year will carry an added weight: For the first time, the day commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States is an official state holiday.

Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill in February establishing Juneteenth as a holiday for state, county and city workers. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, as employers ranging from local governments to corporations were recognizing the day for the first time as part of the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd.

"This new state holiday is an accomplishment by and for Black Minnesotans and all Minnesotans, and it is a moment that we can all celebrate together," Minnesota Senate president and bill co-sponsor Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, said at a news conference Thursday.

Juneteenth has been celebrated annually on June 19 for generations before it was recognized as an official holiday. It commemorates the day in 1865 when federal troops marched into Galveston, Texas, and Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army proclaimed all enslaved people in the state free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Bill co-sponsor Rep. Ruth Richardson, DFL-Mendota Heights, said at Thursday's news conference that Juneteenth is not only about reflecting on American history.

"It's also talking about what has sustained us as we have endured, and the joy that we bring everywhere that we go because joy is truly an act of resistance," she said.

While Minnesota leaders acknowledged that making Juneteenth a state holiday is a step in the right direction, they said more work needs to be done to expand racial equity.

This year's holiday comes on the heels of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found the Minneapolis Police Department has routinely engaged in a pattern of racist and abusive behavior, particularly toward Black and Native American people. The 89-page report also noted the Twin Cities' stark racial disparities — including the second-largest gap between Black and white earnings of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Juneteenth celebrations are planned throughout the Twin Cities and across the state, from food, games and music at the Capitol to a Black-owned vendor fair in Maple Grove and a church brunch in Duluth.

St. Paul's historic Rondo neighborhood will host a celebration at the Rondo Commemorative Plaza on Monday honoring the 13th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, said Marvin Roger Anderson, president of the Rondo Center of Diverse Expression.

The 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, also gave African Americans the right to work for pay — an aspect of Juneteenth that Anderson said he believes can be missed.The goal of this year's festival, he said, is to secure at least 20 job offers for attendees looking for work.

The recognition of Juneteenth as a state holiday for the first time "backs up what community has already been doing," said Terresa Moses, executive director of Design Justice at the University of Minnesota College of Design.

"I'm hoping that the recognition of Juneteenth as a recognized holiday does shed light, especially at this time when Black history is under attack in this country," she said. "Resistance is embodied in everything that we do, and we also wanted to make sure to find time for folks to rest and just be able to exist."