CA ACR197

Recognizes June 19, 2020, as Juneteenth and urges Californians to celebrate the day honoring African American freedom and contributions to the United States.

Commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, freeing enslaved people, nearly two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

Acknowledges that 2020 marks 155 years of Juneteenth freedom celebrations and notes the historical significance of August 1619 as the 400th anniversary of the first documented arrival of Africans in colonial Virginia.

References California law requiring the Governor to proclaim the third Saturday in June annually as "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" to honor African Americans' roles in promoting freedom, brotherhood, and equality.