Chula Vista is gearing up to hold a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate Juneteenth, a historic holiday that honors the official end of slavery in the United States.
Elected officials will be raising the Juneteenth at Chula Vista City Hall on Friday at 1 p.m. in honor of the historic day in which the oldest observed African American holiday celebrating the official day enslaved people in the confederacy were freed.
The last enslaved African Americans in the United States were granted freedom on June 19, 1865, after Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX, and announced that the Civil War was officially over. Since then, June 19, or Juneteenth, has become a celebration recognized in 49 states. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.
Juneteenth has been observed in California since 2017, and it officially became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.
The city of Chula Vista will temporarily remove the PRIDE flag, which has been hung since June 1, to fly the Juneteenth flag. The pride flag will be raised on June 21 through the end of the month.
Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir San Diego will perform at this commemorative flag-raising ceremony.
