We kicked off our Juneteenth celebration with the Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival last weekend—the event that has served as Atlanta’s official Juneteenth celebration since it was first recognized as a city holiday. Now in its 5th year as an official city observance, Juneteenth is a time to honor the journey toward freedom and reflect on the work still ahead. Today, on Juneteenth, we continue that reflection—celebrating progress while staying committed to equity, inclusion, and justice

#OnThisDay in 1865, General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX, to read Order No. 3, which affirmed the end of slavery in the states of the former Confederacy. This momentous occasion has been celebrated as #Juneteenth — a combination of "June" and "19th" — for over 150 years. Though President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1st, 1863, freed all enslaved people in the Confederacy, its announcement and enforcement relied upon the presence of Union troops, inclu