Short answers, pulled from the story.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the end of slavery. It is observed on June 19 because on that date in 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and ordered the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation for an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas. The word Juneteenth is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, first coined in the 1890s.
Texas was the most remote state of the former Confederacy, and Union troop presence there was low as the Civil War ended. The western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not formally surrender until the 2nd of June, 1865, leaving slavery in Texas without federal enforcement until General Granger's arrival on June 19.
President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on the 17th of June, 2021, making Juneteenth the eleventh American federal holiday. The Senate had passed the bill unanimously on the 15th of June, and the House approved it by a vote of 415 to 14 the following day.
Opal Lee is an activist widely called the grandmother of Juneteenth who campaigned for decades to secure federal recognition of the holiday. In 2016-17, at the age of 89, she led a symbolic walk from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the cause. She was standing beside President Biden when he signed the bill on the 17th of June, 2021.
Barbecue is the centerpiece of most Juneteenth celebrations. Red foods and drinks are traditional, including red velvet cake and strawberry soda, with red representing resilience and joy. Celebrations also include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, the singing of Lift Every Voice and Sing, voter registration drives, and Miss Juneteenth pageant contests.
Activist Ben Haith created the Juneteenth flag in 1997, and illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf later refined the design. The flag's red, white, and blue colors represent the American flag and the claim of African Americans and their enslaved ancestors to liberty and justice for all citizens. The central star represents Texas, the burst of light around it represents a nova, and the red curve represents a horizon of a new era for African Americans.