Columbus School of Law professor Veryl Miles serves on The Sister Thea Bowman Committee to facilitate the University's coordination and implementation of recommendations to address matters of race in the University community. The committee continues to shape a truly universal culture throughout campus. She has written the following reflection on Juneteenth and campus will be closed Wednesday to honor the day.
On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth Independence Day Act to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and Union troops informed more than 250,000 African Americans in Texas that they were free.
The news of freedom had finally reached enslaved communities in Texas more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declaring enslaved men, women, and children in Confederate States to be free.
Many describe Juneteenth as a recognition of the toiled struggle of African Americans for freedom and equality in our nation and our nation’s tortured story to truly be a nation where “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” as the founding fathers proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Often described as a “second independence day” in our nation, Juneteenth celebrations have been a part of the African American experience for more than a century. These celebrations mark Juneteenth in a variety of ways including community parades, pageants, concerts, prayer services, as well as community and family picnics. They provide a special opportunity and perspective to reflect on the African American journey to freedom, the vast contributions African Americans have made toward justice and equality that all Americans enjoy, and to assess present-day circumstances and conditions of the African American community in our nation today and where we hope to be tomorrow.
To learn more about the history of Juneteenth see the digital collection at the National Museum of African American History and Culture at https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth.
Visit the University's diversity and culture organizations page to learn more about engagement opportunities.
The Catholic University of America's Partnership Program, established after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, the University produced a documentary titled "No Longer Out of Reach." The film highlights the experiences of four of the program's first 30 black participants and its first two directors, Thaddeus F. Aubry Jr. and Leon LeBuffe. They shared their stories of Black students' obstacles in pursuing education and how the University has supported the Partnership program since its inception in 1969. Watch the documentary below.