JUNETEENTH 2023

JUNETEENTH - On June 16, 2023, El Paso County Commissioners Court recognized Monday, June 19, 2023, as Juneteenth. Special thanks to Marcus McCoy, Executive Administrative Officer Lucille Samuel, and everyone with the McCall Neighborhood Center for all they do year-round to keep El Paso history alive.

RESOLUTION: WHEREAS, on June 19, 1865, the People of Texas first learned that all enslaved people in the former Confederacy had been freed, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation. Proclamation to the rebellion states; and WHEREAS, nearly 250,000 formerly enslaved people in Texas were to be given absolute equality in their personal and property rights following the reading of General Order Number 3, delivered by Union General Gordon Granger in Galveston following the end of the American Civil War; and WHEREAS, on January 1, 1980, Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas through the efforts of Al Edwards, an African American state legislator. The successful passage of this bill marked Juneteenth as the first emancipation celebration granted official state recognition; and WHEREAS, Juneteenth, also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, remains the most popular and widely recognized annual event celebrating the end of slavery in the United States; and WHEREAS, Juneteenth is a reminder of the horrors inflicted on African Americans, while simultaneously serving as a reminder of all of the challenges and obstacles overcome in the fight for civil rights, voting rights, and social justice and the achievements made by millions of African Americans; and WHEREAS, the McCall Neighborhood Center exists to facilitate in honoring and preserving Black heritage in the Southwest; and WHEREAS, this year McCall Neighborhood Center is hosting Discovering Our Roots, a Juneteenth Breakfast with guest speaker Pastor Artie C. Maxwell Jr. on Monday, June 19 to commemorate the day. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the El Paso County Judge and Commissioners Court, that June 19 be recognized and celebrated as: “Juneteenth” in El Paso County, Texas.