Here Are Few Ways You Can Embody Juneteenth All Year Long

America's newest holiday is something that isn't limited to African or Black Americans in the United States to celebrate. People of all creeds and ethnicities are welcomed and encouraged to honor America on this day, as Juneteenth is a day for everyone and proof that the We The People are continually striving to form a more perfect Union.

Just in case you don't know what we're talking about, Juneteenth became an official federal holiday on June 17, 2021, after President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. That made Juneteenth the first new holiday enacted in the United States since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1983.

While Juneteenth is a federal holiday, it's not officially observed equally throughout the nation. According to the PEW Research Center, twenty-two states do not recognize it as a holiday, while the remaining 28 states and the District of Columbia do.

What Is Juneteenth?

According to records from the Juneteenth Festival of Buffalo website, Juneteenth is the oldest known observance commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Using historical reports, the celebration is said to have started on June 19, 1865, the day Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army rode into Galveston, Texas, marking the final execution of the Emancipation Proclamation.

READ MORE: Buffalo Was Filled With Love & Laughter At The 2025 Juneteenth Festival [PHOTOS]

The word Juneteenth itself is a portmanteau, or combination, of the words "June" and "nineteenth," which is the day it is typically celebrated, along with many communities, such as Buffalo and Niagara Falls, which hold massive festivals and parades on the week preceding the 19th.

While Juneteenth is officially observed on June 19th every year, just because that day has come and gone does not mean you have to let the energy of freedom end. There are several ways you can celebrate Juneteenth today and all year long:

What's more American than acknowledging our nation's flawed history and proving that we can make things better when we work together? Celebrating Juneteenth should be considered a quintessential example of America's greatness.