Recognizing Juneteenth And Strengthening Commitment To Diversity

June 2022 marks one year since President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on June 17, 2021, designating Juneteenth as the 11th federally recognized public holiday in the United States. While Juneteenth was already recognized or observed in most states, the federal recognition means most federal government workers are given a paid day off and most federal government offices and courts are closed. Accordingly, private sector companies across the country are considering ways to recognize the holiday.

What Is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1, 1863, but news did not reach the entire country until years later. More than two years later on June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas, the federal order proclaiming all enslaved people in Texas to be free, news that