Good Monday morning.
Since we don’t post over the weekend, I’m a day late in writing about the second annual federal holiday observance of Juneteenth, AKA Emancipation Day or Freedom Day. It is being observed today in New York State and as a federal holiday, which means many people are off from work.
The word Juneteenth is a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth” – and I just love that word, “portmanteau”, which is the French word for a two-part suitcase – yep, you read that right.
It combines the words “porte,” meaning “to carry,” and “manteau”, meaning “cloak.” Like the suitcase, a portmanteau holds or carries the meaning of two or more words within it. Like “chortle” (a combination of “chuckle” and “snort”), or “smog” (“smoke” and “fog”) or “brunch” (“breakfast” and “lunch”). or “spork” (“spoon” and “fork”).
Language is so cool. But I digress…significantly.
As you may recall, President Biden last year signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, saying at the time:
“Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day of profound — in my view — profound weight and profound power.”
The law, signed on June 17, went into effect immediately, which meant that June 19, 2021 was the first federal observance of Juneteenth, which came amid renewed interest in the holiday as a result of the uprising that occurred across the country following the police killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans.
In case you’re still not quite sure about the history of this day, it’s an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the U.S. after the Civil War, which has been celebrated by African Americans since the 1800s.
On this day in 1865, approximately two months after Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia, a Union general named Gordon Granger showed up in Galveston, Texas – along with some 2,000 troops – to inform approximately 25,000 enslaved individuals there that the war had ended and the Emancipation Proclamation was in effect, thereby rendering them free via executive decree.
The Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than three million slaves living in the Confederate states to be free, actually had been issued quite a bit earlier – on Jan. 1, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln.
But news didn’t exactly travel fast in those days, you know, before Twitter and TikTok and everything. It’s a wonder anyone knew anything at all, isn’t it? Actually, the real complicating factor was that the Emancipation Proclamation could not be implemented in places that were still under Confederate control at the time.
Anyway, when the now freed slaves in Galveston heard the good news, they immediately started celebrating with dancing and music and prayer and feasts. The official Juneteenth celebrations didn’t take place in Texas until a year later, however, and the trend slowly caught on in other states as well.
It’s traditional on Juneteenth to wear new clothes to symbolize newfound freedom, as well as the aforementioned merrymaking.
Juneteenth didn’t become a state holiday in Texas until 1980. Even though the day is a federal holiday, states actually vary in how they mark the day – in some cases, it’s merely an observance. New York has been recognizing Juneteenth since 2004 (corrected), but didn’t give government workers the day off on this day until 2020. It’s a paid holiday for NYC workers for the first time in history this year.
After an unseasonable cool weekend, during which I hope all you dads out there enjoyed some quality time doing whatever it is you enjoy, we’re heading back up into warmer territory, albeit slowly, with temperatures in the high 70s and generally sunny skies.
In the headlines…
Thousands of flights wound up cancelled and delayed during the Juneteenth and Father’s Day holiday weekend, which included the busiest air travel day of the year on Friday, according to the TSA.
More than 840 flights were canceled by mid-afternoon yesterday, with over 3,100 delayed, according to the flight tracking platform FlightAware.
A 15-year-old died and three adults were wounded last night – including a cop who was hospitalized in stable condition – when gunfire broke out during an informal gathering near the Moachella Music Festival in Washington, D.C.
The Metropolitan Police Department had shut down the free street festival near the city’s culturally storied corner of 14th and U Streets Northwest, after violence earlier in the evening, including a fight between attendees, police said.
Texas Republicans acted on multiple resolutions and platform changes at their state convention this weekend—including declaring that President Joe Biden was “not legitimately elected” and demanding an end to abortion.
The Texas GOP also issued a “rebuke” to Senator John Cornyn for his work on bipartisan gun legislation and referring to homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle choice.”
A new poll has shown that a majority of Americans don’t want either Biden or Donald Trump to run as President in 2024.
Democratic insiders in Washington and key primary states expect Biden to follow through on his intention to stand for re-election and appear to have little appetite for casting him aside, though they are concerned about his age and low poll numbers.
A Supreme Court environmental case being decided this month is the product of a coordinated, multiyear strategy by Republican attorneys general and conservative allies.
Biden is “fine,” after falling off his bike Saturday during a ride in a state park near his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a White House official said.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal have dramatically raised the probability of recession, now putting it at 44% in the next 12 months, a level usually seen only on the brink of or during actual recessions.
The recession that many Americans fear is coming is not “at all imminent,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
Yellen said that “unacceptably high” prices are likely to stick with consumers through 2022 and that she expects the US economy to slow down.
Federal policy makers should consider a temporary gasoline-tax holiday to ease the burden of soaring fuel prices, Yellen said.
The Centers for Disease Control fully approved COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for children age 5 and under over the weekend. Shots could be in arms as soon as today.
The vaccines seem safe for children and are likely to protect against severe illness. But data on efficacy are thin, and most children have already been infected.
Facing withering pressure from medical professionals and the federal government, Florida began to allow pediatricians, children’s hospitals and other physicians on Friday to order coronavirus vaccines for the youngest children.
Health officials in New York City are preparing to distribute vaccines for children younger than 5 starting on Wednesday, according to a new plan announced on Friday by Mayor Eric Adams.
The COVID-19 outlook across New York state has vastly improved, with just two of its 62 counties now considered at high risk for community COVID spread, according to the CDC’s latest risk update.
Nearly 80,000 of the state’s original COVID-19 Excelsior passes are set to expire on June 30 for e-certificates received after March 1, prompting the state DOH to encourage those vaccinated in New York to obtain the latest version of the app — Excelsior Pass Plus.
Former New York City employees who were fired for not complying with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate now have the chance to get their old jobs back, as long as they decide to get fully vaccinated soon.
Internal memos delivered to unvaccinated ex-employees told recipients they have an “opportunity to return to employment if [they] become fully vaccinated.” They have until June 30 to get the first dose and make arrangements for a second dose by Aug. 15.
Early voting is underway for New York’s June 28 primaries, in which voters will pick candidates in competitive statewide and Assembly races. Due to a legal decision in the redistricting battle, the congressional and Senate primaries are in August.
Empty polling sites were the norm across New York City on the second day of early voting for the primary election. It was Juneteenth and Father’s Day, and candidates for office were juggling both while the election was already underway.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared she was “100%’ in favor of the state’s much-delayed congestion pricing program during the most recent and final Democratic gubernatorial debate, in a dramatic change from her answer just a week ago.
Hochul issued a proclamation in observance of Juneteenth, announced that the red, black, and green Black Liberation Flag will be raised over the state Capitol, and that state landmarks will be illuminated red, black, and green.
In gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams’s running mate, Ana María Archila, the far left sees a legitimate opportunity to capture the lieutenant governor’s race and gain a foothold in the State Capitol.
Archila stopped in Ithaca on Friday to rack up the endorsements of Tompkins County progressives and connect with local environmentalists.
The Daily News endorsed Hochul ahead of the Democratic primary, saying: “Despite some notable stumbles, from which she must learn, she has been a competent executive under difficult circumstances.”
The News also endorsed Republican Harry Wilson, saying: “Based on his stellar track record in saving troubled businesses…Reagan Republican Wilson could be a good, perhaps great, governor.”
Republican gubernatorial wannabe Andrew Giuliani claims he’s being picked on by New York’s local news station NY1, which barred him from its studios for the next candidates’ debate because he is unvaccinated.
Since announcing his bid for Governor of New York on April 8, Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican Party and Conservative Party designee for governor, has raked in over $12 million in receipts.
Fifteen candidates, including a congressman, an ex-congresswoman, an ex-mayor, a Trump prosecutor and several state and city officials, are eyeing a newly-created open congressional seat in New York City.
Former New York City mayor turned congressional candidate Bill de Blasio has accused MSNBC of giving rival Dan Goldman free air time and an unfair advantage in the Democratic primary for the 10th District House seat.
Hudson Valley Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney inflated his role in a software company, claiming several times over the last decade that he built it “from scratch” — despite officially joining the business after it launched.
Buffalo is redeveloping, but the East Side, particularly the Fruit Belt area, has largely been left behind, and Black residents are decrying years of little investment in their neighborhoods.
Hochul announced $50 million more in funding for her hometown of Buffalo, but with a different primary focus in the wake of the May 14 massacre at a Tops supermarket: assisting struggling East Side homeowners.
A pending U.S. Supreme Court decision that would allow more concealed weapons to be carried on New York City streets has been keeping Adams up at night.
Adams wants the NYPD to walk patrols on city subways alone to cover more ground — which would end a safety protocol put in place in the wake of the assassination of two police officers nearly a decade ago.
New York City needs to “do better” in preventing black residents from being driven out of their neighborhoods, Adams said during an address marking the Juneteenth holiday.
Adams kicked off the weekend with a visit to a Hamptons synagogue, assuring congregants he’s committed to protecting “innocent people” and railing against prosecutors who have turned the country into a place where “lawlessness is acceptable.”
Stop tweeting and give me a call. That’s the blunt message Adams had for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as their feud over state races and the city budget continues to heat up.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz reportedly used members of her taxpayer-funded security detail to help her move to her new million-dollar digs — potentially running afoul of ethics rules.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is rolling out a plan to cut shoplifting and smash-and-go robberies, the president of a top business group said.
A Florida woman has been busted for pepper-spraying four young Asian women during a caught-on-camera clash in Manhattan, police said.
The woman was called a possible flight risk at her first court appearance Saturday, and ordered held on $20,000 bail.
A decorated New York firefighter was killed in a freakish accident at a tourist attraction in North Carolina after a tree fell on the S.U.V. that he and his family had been riding in, according to his family.
At least three people were found dead in a basement after a fire, driven by high winds, swept through several houses in the Richmond Hill section of Queens on Friday, fire officials said.
Fox News has reportedly paid a roughly $15 million settlement to former host Melissa Francis, who filed a complaint with New York state’s labor board accusing the media company of paying her less than her male colleagues.
Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade was back – just in time for its 40th anniversary.
A singular smokestack is all that remains standing at the former First Prize meatpacking plant in Colonie, as redevelopment of the longtime industrial site enters its final environmental cleanup phases.
The state Board for Historic Preservation is recommending that 23 properties across New York, including eight in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley, be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Racks of costumes for filming HBO’s “The Gilded Age” are filling up the Troy Atrium again — and the production of the hit Julian Fellowes series is moving out from Troy to include Albany and Cohoes.
Nationwide, reservations and permits to gain access to certain trails and attractions are gaining popularity with those charged with its management, including in the Adirondack Park.
Naomi Osaka pulled out of Wimbledon on Saturday, citing a lingering problem with her left Achilles tendon and marking the second consecutive year she’s decided to sit out the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
The world governing body for swimming effectively barred transgender women from the highest levels of women’s international competition, intensifying a debate over gender and sports.
Two cast members of the Netflix show “The Chosen One” died after an accident last week in Baja California Sur, Mexico, that left six other cast and crew members injured, Netflix said.
Two Florida deputies have been suspended for sharing the news of comedian Bob Saget’s death before his family was alerted, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
