(Today is Juneteenth)…It commemorates the day slavery ended in the United States.

On June 19th 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform a reluctant community that President Abraham Lincoln two years earlier had freed the slaves and to press locals to comply with the directive. There are differing reasons why it took two years to get the word to Texas. Juneteenth is also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation day. The local celebration had been scheduled for last Saturday at the El Centro Community Center, but was stopped at the last minute by City Employees who claimed paperwork to use the facility had not been filled out properly. Organizers of the celebration are taking the issue to the City Council this week.