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Juneteenth! Wishing those who celebrate it a Happy Juneteenth!!! I was sitting here thinking about the past celebrations I attended at Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. Yeah, it was primarily for the music – Lightnin’ Hopkins, Albert Collins (The Ice Man), Muddy Waters, Big Walter (“The Thunderbird”), Joe “Guitar” Hughes, Lavelle White, T-Bone Walker, Johnny Copeland, Etta James, “Gatemouth” Brown, and so many more – and I never really gave a thought about the reason for the celebration. In talking with the friend who had invited me to the celebration in ’76, he asked me if I knew why we were here. I replied that I thought it was a “summer celebration”. He laughed and proceeded to tell the story about the arrival of Union troops after the civil war and their order that all slaves were now free, something that was not known in Texas for over 2 years. The celebration took on a new meaning for me after that, and I understood the answer to the question of “Why?” For those who may not know, here’s the story. The Emancipation Proclamation, or Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued and had been signed by United States President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and effective as of January 1, 1863. This was still during the war and had a part in prolonging the action. When the Civil War ended on April 9th, 1865, it signaled the activation of the Emancipation Proclamation, and all slaves in the repatriated southern United States were to be set free. However, communications being what they were at the time, many regions were not aware of the Proclamation, and many chose to ignore it. On June 18th, 1865, a U.S. ship arrived in Galveston, Texas bearing U.S. Army General Gordon Granger and a contingent of U.S. military personnel. General Granger was given command of the District of Texas. On June 19, 1865 in the city of Galveston, one of the first orders of business was to read to the people of Texas Granger's General Order No. 3 which began with: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.” Juneteenth celebrations have been held in Texas since 1866. By the way, Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. Photos: Juneteenth flag. Ashton Villa, Galveston, Texas. It was here, from the balcony porch, that General Granger read General Order No. 3 on June 19th, 1865.