June 19th has recently been made a State and Federal Holiday. Theodis Pace, President of the Kankakee County Chapter of the NAACP says “Juneteenth”, as it is known, is a celebration of the last American slaves being freed. Pace says that while the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, it wasn’t until June 19th, 1865 when that information made it to slaves being held in Texas.
Pace says there’ll be several activities in Kankakee County to mark the event.
Festivities start at 10 Saturday morning with a parade and festivities at Pioneer park kick off at noon. There’s more on the Juneteenth Celebration Community Council page on Facebook.
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