The Livingston Committee for Diversity and Inclusion will commemorate Livingston’s third annual celebration of Juneteenth at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 19.
A flag raising will be held at that time at Town Hall, and there will also be speakers from the NAACP and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice speaking during the event.
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, formally ending slavery in the United States. However, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned of it two and half years later on June 19th, 1865, when the Union Army informed them of their freedom. One year later, it was celebrated as a day of freedom in Galveston and the holiday began to be recognized nationwide.
The United States formally recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021.
