By Jennifer Stultz
Tri-County Tribune Editor
jstultz@cherryroad.com
A few people noticed that banks were closed on Thursday, June 19 but that was about all the recognition that a national holiday called Juneteenth got in much of rural Kansas. Some families took Thursday and Friday off and called it a four-day weekend for a mini-vacation, but for the most part Juneteenth got little recognition in the Tri-County Tribune coverage area. Maybe that could change with a little bit of shared information.
According to former President of the United States Barack Obama, Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, but it is also a reminder that freedom is never free. (E&P quote)
An unidentified writer from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina wrote that the juxtaposition of Juneteenth and the founding of Shaw University in 1865 was a historical nugget worth mining. Both stand as a beacon of hope and progress for Black people who were formerly enslaved.
“It was June 19, 1865, when a couple thousand Union troops — many of them Black men — showed up in Galveston Bay, Texas, announcing that a quarter of a million of the state’s Black people who woke up that morning believing they were slaves actually were free by executive order. The Emancipation Proclamation a year and a half prior in 1863 unshackled slaves in areas of the United States not under Confederate control. Yet the 13th Amendment abolished slavery throughout the entire country when Congress passed it Jan. 31, 1865. The arrival of those Union soldiers in Texas meant Black people there were free, too. That’s the origin of Juneteenth,” the Shaw University writer stated in a 2024 article online at www.shawu.edu.
Some places of higher education posted brief statements about Juneteenth as part of closure notifications, like Garden City Community College: Garden City Community College will be closed on Thursday, June 19, and Friday, June 20, in observance of the federal holiday Juneteenth. Offices will be closed, and no classes will be held. Regular operations will resume on Monday, June 23, 2025.
Newsource KCUR 89.3 shared a news story about Juneteenth festivals and parties that took place in Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri, urban areas where many enjoyed live music, vendor booths, speeches, cook-outs, 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, and more. (https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2025-06-19/juneteenth-kansas-city-defender-freedom-harris-park-celebration-remember)
For some, Juneteenth has become an important day to remember history that included enslavement and liberation, concepts that perhaps far too many take for granted these days. Shared experiences and understanding might lead to better celebrations next year.
