Happy Juneteenth from all of us at Cool Weird Awesome!
Ok, there’s only, um, one of us, but you get the idea.
June 19 is the anniversary of the day in 1865 when a Union Major General and his troops landed at Galveston, Texas to announce that the Emancipation Proclamation had been in effect since two years earlier, and that the enslaved people there were free.
Black Americans have made sure that Juneteenth would be celebrated, even buying land for private parks when the powers that be wouldn’t let them use public ones.
One of the many special places you can mark this holiday is at the George Washington Carver Museum in Austin, Texas.
On the grounds you’ll find five statues, symbolizing the way the news traveled: a lawmaker tells a preacher, who tells a now-free woman and man.
They tell their daughter, the fifth statue, but that’s not where the story ends, because this installation has five statues and six pedestals.
The final pedestal has no statue; instead, visitors are invited to “step into history – take your place.”
Behind it is a panel explaining about the Emancipation Proclamation and holding a bronze bell so visitors can literally let freedom ring.
There are people who can tell you much more about Juneteenth than I am, so if you’ve start your journey through the history of the holiday here, don’t stop!
This Sunday is the summer solstice, which is when many people would normally flock to Wiltshire, England, to mark the day at Stonehenge.
Not so much this year, so instead, English Heritage is live-streaming the Stonehenge solstice.
It’s the one time where you can belt out the words to the Spinal Tap song and no one’s going to shush you.
Juneteenth Memorial Monuments Find a Home (AustinTexas.gov)
You Can Watch the Summer Solstice Live From Stonehenge This Year (Thrillist)
