Celebrating Juneteenth

This morning, I had the honor of joining hundreds of my neighbors for the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire's Juneteenth Freedom Walk. It was an amazing moment to be a part of.

We gathered at John Paul Jones Memorial Park on the Kittery, Maine side of the Memorial Bridge. We then walked across the Piscataqua River into Portsmouth, led by the Leftist Marching Band. Crossing from one state into another, together. This walk felt purposeful, significant, and consequential.

Crossing Memorial Bridge

At the end of our walk, we arrived at the African Burying Ground on State Street in Portsmouth. We read aloud the names of the men, women, and children buried there. People who lived, labored, and died in New Hampshire, people whose stories the history books too often left out. And then the drums began.

We danced to African drums, it was a moment that's hard to put into words. Grief and joy at the same time. Community. Remembrance meeting celebration. It was a truly moving moment.

We celebrate Juneteenth because freedom, even when proclaimed, did not arrive all at once. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. However, it wasn't until June 19, 1865, more than two years later, that people enslaved in Galveston, Texas, finally received word of their freedom. Black communities began to celebrate, continuing into 2026.

In 2021, President Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Honoring what Black communities had recognized for generations. Here in New Hampshire, that work is not finished.

New Hampshire is the only state in New England that still doesn't recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday. State lawmakers rejected a proposal in 2024 that would have established the annual holiday, deciding to keep Juneteenth as an observance, with unofficial status.

An observance is not enough. There is a difference between acknowledging something and honoring it. We must work towards a New Hampshire leading on matters of justice and inclusion, not trailing behind.

Today I witnessed something powerful; neighbors of every background walking side by side, reading the names of those too long forgotten, dancing to drums that carried an echo of history and left their own behind.

Happy Juneteenth, New Hampshire. The work continues.