Overview

• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed House Bill 165 on May 9 to make Juneteenth an official state holiday, extending its federal designation from 2021.
• In Houston and Galveston, Culture Fests and historical exhibitions draw crowds, Chicago’s events range from community barbecues to scholarship panels, and Connecticut towns like Hartford and New Haven host parades, dance performances and resource fairs.
• Seattle’s Northwest African American Museum and Africatown Community Land Trust are leading skate sessions, art markets and youth-driven Freedom Day programs.
• Montgomery’s Rosa Parks Museum marked its tenth annual festival with spotlighted Black-owned businesses, coffee heritage stalls and cultural performances.
• Community leaders urge programs that preserve Juneteenth’s historical context through storytelling and education and warn against reducing the holiday to commercial caricatures.