Freedom Day

LU Community,

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is celebrated, annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery. It is an official state holiday - Emancipation Day in Texas. Although U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it wasn’t until two and a half years later that the word of freedom was made known in Texas.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordan Granger, landed in Galveston and announced the good news. According to historian James Smallwood, an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were already free, they just did not know it. In fact, many enslavers deliberately suppressed the information until after the harvest.

Juneteenth is a day to reflect on the past and observe liberty. It is a time to remain mindful of the work that needs to be done by all Americans to promote equality and justice for all.

The LU Office of Diversity and Inclusion strives for a campus climate that is inviting, welcoming, supportive and conducive for all our students, faculty, staff and extended communities -- regardless of their racial, ethnic or other social-cultural backgrounds. We also simultaneously recognize and value the inherent worth and dignity of every person through fostering tolerance, sensitivity, understanding and mutual respect.

We encourage you to celebrate and educate yourself on the importance of this day in U.S. history.

Events- City of Beaumont 2022 Juneteenth

Additional online resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gezgL5G_NE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIi_53jihMM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOOguH71--E
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/501680/12-things-you-might-not-know-about-juneteenth

Dr. Wilma R. Jackson, Director
Office of Diversity and Inclusion

 

Mr. Norman Bellard, Interim Vice President
Division of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations

 

Dr. Jaime Taylor, President