JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance

Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Chairman
National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign
National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC)
662-247-3364 662-247-1471
e-mail: MyersFound@aol.com
web sites: www.19thofJune.com
www.Juneteenth.us
www.njclc.com


9th Annual WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance
Returns to the Nation's Capitol

Congress Urges President Bush to Issue a Presidential Proclamation
Recognizing Juneteenth Independence Day in America

Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF) and the National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC), Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Chairman of the National Juneteenth Congressional Committee and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Senate Host of the U.S. Capitol Juneteenth Congressional Reception, are the invited featured speakers for the 2008 WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance

(Washington, DC) - As Senator Barack Obama makes great strides in becoming the nation's next president, Juneteenth supporters are hopeful that the "19th of June" will finally be established as a national holiday observance in America. Senator Barack Obama has been a key sponsor of Juneteenth legislation in the senate and keynote speaker at the annual Juneteenth Congressional Reception.

Juneteenth, or the "19th of June", recognizes June 19, 1865, in Galveston, TX, when Union General Gordon Granger announced freedom for all slaves in the Southwest. This was the last major vestige of slavery in the United States following the end of the Civil War. This occurred more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Upon the reading of General Order #3 by General Granger, the former slaves celebrated jubilantly, establishing America's second Independence Day Celebration and the oldest African-American holiday observance.

Juneteenth is now recognized as a state holiday or state holiday observance in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Delaware, Idaho, Alaska, Iowa, California, Wyoming, Missouri, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, Washington, Tennessee, Massachusetts, North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina and Vermont. In 2003, the District of Columbia passed legislation to recognize Juneteenth as a district holiday observance. Many more states, including Utah, Alabama, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Montana, Wisconsin and Maryland have recognized Juneteenth through annual state legislative resolutions, Gubernatorial Proclamations and current state holiday observance legislation.

The US Capitol and the White House were built through the uncompensated labor of the ancestors of Americans of African descent during the tyranny of enslavement


Acappella - Lift Every Voice



Wednesday
June 18th Juneteenth 3 Kilometer (1.86 Mile) Run
12noon DC Road Runners Club

Entrance of FDR Memorial
Washington, DC
Thursday
June 19th National Juneteenth Congressional Reception
12:00noon Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Host

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Co-Host

(Room to be determined!)
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, DC
Friday
June 20th NATIONAL DAY OF RECONCILIATION & HEALING
FROM THE LEGACY OF ENSLAVEMENT

National Juneteenth Black Holocaust "MAAFA" Memorial Service and National Juneteenth Prayer Service
11:30am Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Chairman
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council

"Reading of the Names" (Victims of Lynchings in America)

Presentation of the Dr. James Cameron National Juneteenth Leadership Award
Honoring Dr. James Cameron, Founder
America's Black Holocaust Museum

Poetry by Pierre L. Sutton, Jr. & Kevin Reeves
Gospel Music by Lisa Winn

Lincoln Park United Methodist Church
Rev. Harold D. Lewis, Sr., Pastor
1301 North Carolina, N.E.
Washington, DC
Sunday
June 22nd National Juneteenth Worship Service
10:45am Rev. Cornelius Wheeler, Pastor

Vermont Avenue Baptist Church
1630 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC