 In the words of Representative Al Edwards, a civil rights activist and former Houston legislator who helped Texas become the first day in the country to make abolition of slavery and official holiday. Every year, we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of events that one by one defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations. That is why we need this holiday. Juneteenth Independence Day is a celebration of the anniversary of June 19 1865, the date when African Americans in Galveston, Texas, first learned of the Emancipation Proclamation passed more than two years earlier. The date is not yet a federal holiday. In 2007 Massachusetts became the 25th state to formally recognize the holiday on July 24 2020 Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill to elevate the prior Sunday observance to a full holiday on June 19 every year. The purpose of this article is to update the town's holiday list with Juneteenth Independence Day. It has already been added at the state level. It should be noted that the town is still working on how the observance of Juneteenth will affect various town employees and collective bargaining units. Last summer the Allington Human Rights Commission brought the community together to celebrate Juneteenth. This serve as a testimony for the impact acknowledging Juneteenth as an official town holiday can have. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. It dates back to 1865 when on June 19 Union soldiers landed a Galveston, Texas with the news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official on January 1, 1863. Reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. The descendants of slaves, the Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. For us tonight, as we celebrate Arlington's Juneteenth Jubilee, we use this day to honor the diversity in our community and our shared values. And now, let's get on with the show. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise, I rise, I rise. Besides, you'll see how beautiful we are and be ashamed, I too am in America.