In the weeks leading up to Juneteenth, the park hosted discussions on topics ranging from health care to policing in communities of color to the role of green spaces.ДЄs more people learn about Juneteenth, вЂњwe want to harness that and use this moment as a tool to educate people about history and not just African American history but American history,вЂќ said Ramon Manning, chairman of the board for the Emancipation Park Conservancy. This weekend's celebration included performances from The Isley Brothers and Kool & The Gang. вЂњThey wanted a place that they could not only have their celebration, but they could do things other things during the year as a community,вЂќ said Jacqueline Bostic, vice chairwoman of the board for the Emancipation Park Conservancy and the great-granddaughter of one of the park's founders, the Rev. At times, it was the only public park available in the area to Blacks, according to the conservancy's website. Lawmakers in Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere failed to advance proposals this year that would have closed state offices and given most of their public employees paid time off.Д¬elebrations in Texas included one at a Houston park created 150 years ago by a group of formerly enslaved men who bought the land. Yet many states have been slow to designate it as an official holiday. The poll also found that support for making Juneteenth part of the history taught in schools increased from 49% to 63%. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to order freedom for the enslaved people of the state - two months after the Confederacy had surrendered in the Civil War.ДЄ Gallup Poll found that Americans are more familiar with the day than they were last year, with 59% saying they knew вЂњa lotвЂќ or вЂњsomeвЂќ about the holiday compared with 37% a year ago in May. Many people celebrated the day just as they did before any formal recognition. Celebrations also included an emphasis on learning about the past and addressing racial disparities. вЂњWe need to know so people can heal from it and never let it happen again,вЂќ said Lee, whose 2 1/2-mile walk through Fort Worth symbolizes the 2 1/2 years it took for enforcement in Texas of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which ended slavery in the Southern states.ДЄ year after President Joe Biden signed legislation last year making June 19 the nation's 12th federal holiday, Americans across the country gathered this weekend at events filled with music, food and fireworks. A year after Juneteenth became a federal holiday, Americans across the country gathered this weekend at events filled with music, food and fireworksДALLAS (AP) - After Opal Lee led hundreds in a walk through her Texas hometown to celebrate Juneteenth, the 95-year-old Black woman who helped successfully push for the holiday to get national recognition said it's important that people learn the history behind it.

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