It was on June 19, 1865, that enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas — deep in the heart of the fallen Confederacy — were finally made aware of the Emancipation Proclamation.

“ I just imagine what it must have been for my ancestors on [May 20, 1865] here in Florida, for the Texans on June 19th,” said Dr. Tameka Bradley,  regional manager of Broward County Library’s African American Research Library and Cultural Center and President of South Florida’s Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

“To hear the news that after generations of bondage that the scourge that was enslavement in America was coming to an end. I think that’s a incredible moment for our country that we all should celebrate if we believe in freedom.”

Bradley was among the educators and experts who appeared on WLRN’s South Florida Roundup on Friday to talk about the historic significance of Juneteenth.

READ MORE: How South Florida is using the arts to redefine Juneteenth ahead of America’s 250th anniversary

What had been written and ratified in 1863 technically ended slavery in the U.S., but through battle and much bloodshed, and with the states of the Confederacy defeated, it wasn’t until the Civil War was over that slavery could end as well. Then, in December 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, abolishing chattel slavery, the ownership of another human being, for good.

“ Enslavement is inextricable to American history, right? And if we wanna tell the American story, we have to include what happened, even the the inconvenient parts,” said Brian Knowles, educator and founder of the consulting firm Teach+Help+Build. “This land is predicated on freedom and liberty and justice, and all of those great things that [Black people] haven’t fully experienced in this country.”

The first Juneteenth was celebrated in 1866, called “Jubilee Day” in Galveston. Much later, in 2021, Juneteenth was made an official U.S. federal holiday.

Now, the effort to challenge DEI initiatives has put Juneteenth, and the teaching of racial history in public education, in jeopardy. This past April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law SB 1134, which prohibits public funding for race and identity based organizations and observances.

“ Black History Month, or what was started off as Negro History Week, was celebrated within the Black community for 50 years before mainstream America took a hold of it and made it an official holiday,” Knowles said. “We don’t have to have a stamp of validation from the prevailing powers or have permission from the prevailing powers to celebrate our history and culture and our experiences.

“We understand the challenges that we face when it comes to resources and funding to institutionalize what we’re doing, but when it comes to preserving our story and celebrating our heroes and our holidays, that is something that still belongs to us within the community.”

 ”What I really hope is that we find allies who are reliable, who are dependable, who are consistent,” Dr. Bradley said. “Because the other lesson of American history is that the times that we have had these significant breakthroughs in our history that have made room for Black folks and everybody else is that we’ve had significant allyship from whites. I think that’s something that is sorely missing in this moment.”

While the U.S. turns 250 on July 4th this year, we remember that when the Declaration of Independence was written, Black people in this country were not free. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” Thomas Jefferson wrote, only, it took another 89 years until slavery was outlawed, and another 99 until the Civil Rights Act was passed.

“ Not everybody became an American citizen at the same time,” Dr. Bradley said. “Not everyone had the same opportunities at the same time, and so the more that we can complicate and elevate these stories, the better we all are. And I think Juneteenth is an absolutely fantastic holiday.”
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Listen here to the full June 19, 2026, episode of WLRN’s South Florida Roundup with host Tim Padgett, available on WLRN or wherever you get your podcasts.