On Monday, June 20, Planet Aid joins the United States in honoring Juneteenth National Independence Day.
On June 19, 1865, Union troops marched into Galveston, Texas—two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the last stop on their journey to declare freedom for all slaves.
Planet Aid has added Juneteenth to its holiday schedule because of its local, national, and international significance.
It is a day commemorated not only by Americans, but by those who see Juneteenth as a day of freedom, citizenship, and equality.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." By releasing itself from the 400-year institution of slavery, the United States freed itself from the past.
It is now pressing forward in unity as a nation that respects and holds up the rights of all people.