PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Today is a holiday.
It’s Juneteenth, celebrating the date that marks the end of slavery in America, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, and Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas to bring slaves there the news.
That’s Portage city councilman Vic Ledbetter, who says it’s been freedom delayed and promises denied since the beginning.
It took 89 years after the American revolution to free his predecessors, and even after the Civil War, the black codes and Jim Crow laws stood in their way.
He says the last few years have seen many advances rolled back, including their right to fair representation.
Ledbetter says his challenge is for everyone to embrace equity and observe it in their everyday lives.
State and federal offices, the U.S. Post Office, many banks, and Kalamazoo City Hall, Kalamazoo County Administration Building and Portage City Hall will all be closed today in observance of Juneteenth.
A Juneteenth celebration is planned for Bronson Park from 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
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