On this day, Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in 1865, a moment celebrated nationwide and honored by voices from Michigan and beyond.
TRANSCRIPT
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Here’s what Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, whose youth was spent in Lansing, Michigan said during a Juneteenth commemoration at Manhattan’s African Burial Ground in 2014.
And that is your Michigan Minute.