OPINION: It’s time to make Juneteenth a state holiday

This year, the Alaska Legislature is considering a proposal to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021, and just last month the Anchorage Assembly added both Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the municipal calendar. We urge people all over Alaska to contact their legislators in support of making Juneteenth a state holiday.

Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson has introduced Senate Bill 22 to make Juneteenth — also called Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Liberation Day — an official state holiday. It commemorates the day that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that they were free — more than two months after the end of the Civil War.

Juneteenth is both a celebration and a mourning. It is a celebration of the end of a hideous chapter in this country’s history. And it is a mourning for the incalculable suffering caused by the theft and enslavement of human beings and the continuing injustices of structural racism and white supremacy. As Alaska Black Caucus president Celeste Hodge Growden testified at the Feb. 15 Senate hearing on the bill, making Juneteenth a state holiday will not merely give employees a day off, it will give residents a day to think about the future that we want while remembering the inequities of the past.

Black Americans have observed Juneteenth for hundreds of years, and it is a critical time for Black communities to come together to celebrate their achievements and fortify themselves for the struggle. Even so, Juneteenth is not only a Black holiday. Slavery and its aftermath are the inheritance of all Americans. We all got a little closer to liberation when slavery was abolished, and we all have work to do to dismantle the systems of oppression that continue to stand in the way of equity and freedom for all.

Alaska’s proud history includes many Black leaders who dedicated their lives to making this state more equal and just for all. For example, African American legislator Bettye Davis fought tirelessly to secure rights for vulnerable Alaskans. She was referred to as “the conscience of the Legislature” and was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of fame in 2010.

If you support honoring the legacy and continuing work of Black people in Alaska, please consider getting involved to support Senate Bill 22 in the Alaska Legislature. You can visit www.akleg.gov to find out who your senator is and then call or write them to voice your support for Senate Bill 22. You can also write to your representatives in the Alaska House of Representatives and ask them to introduce a companion bill to Senate Bill 22 in the House.

In addition to voicing your support for these holidays, you can learn more about Black history in Alaska. Online, you can view the Anchorage Museum’s recent exhibit Black Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy. You can also read “Black History in the Last Frontier” for free through the National Park Service or purchase a copy of “Black Lives in Alaska,” the latest work by Ian Hartman and David Reamer, with a foreword by Cal Williams, published in November 2022.

And we can all also fight racism and celebrate Black excellence by supporting local Black-owned businesses; tuning into a Community Conversation, hosted by the Alaska Black Caucus every Sunday at 7 p.m. on Facebook and Zoom; and attending live events like the Juneteenth Celebration in the Anchorage Park Strip on June 17-18, and the Alaska Black Caucus/Anchorage Chamber Juneteenth Make It Monday luncheon at the Dena’ina Civic Convention Center at 11:30 a.m. on June 19. We hope to see you there!

Rebecca Noblin and Richard Emanuel are members of the Alaska Black Caucus Allies for Change. The Alaska Black Caucus is a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting the constitutional rights of African Americans in Alaska. Its Allies for Change group supports the Alaska Black Caucus in the fight to end racism. The Allies are a diverse group of community members who work with the Alaska Black Caucus to proactively dismantle the racist structures that have held back Black Alaskans in the areas of justice, education, health and economics.

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