Juneteenth 2025

Today is being celebrated in America as Juneteenth, which became a federal holiday in 2021.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, or Black Independence Day, commemorates June 19, 1865, the day when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom—more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday in 1980 and it was on June 17, 2021 that President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

It is now the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.

On Juneteenth:

• Banks are closed and markets are closed
• No mail delivery, but UPS and FedEx operate normally on the holiday, according to their websites.
• Most retail stores are open today, including Walmart, Target, and Kroger.
• Garbage collection will take place on a regular schedule.