as union soldiers spread paving the way for them to mayor, to vote, to vote and to worship and decide their own destiny. the civil war officially ended in april 1865, but in a small community of gavelston island, texas, enslaved slaves were owe believious to their reality, two and a half years after the signing of the emancipation proclamation when a u.s. general informed the last enslaved black people in america that freedom had finally comp the people erupted in joy. that joy became the catalyst for juneteenth. in 2021 juneteenth became an official federal holiday. now recognized across the united states as a day of national celebration. juneteenth is a reminder. it is a reminder of what black people in america have been through and what black people have overcome. it is a commemoration of our resilience. our ingenuity, and most importantly our capacity for joy. our joy is worthy of celebration, and on this day we remember that our freedom must be honored, nurtured and pr
dance academy. adam blackstone and the bbb all-star band, and the recollective orchestration, and now please welcome our first guest, actor and comedian deon cole. [ applause ] come on, y all can do better than that, man. make some noise. make some noise. good evening, good evening, everybody. black people, white people, brown people and all freedom lovers around the world. p i am deon cole, and it s pleasure for me to welcome to you juneteenth, a global celebration of freedom on cnn, baby. give it up, yeah! if you can believe it or not, man, this is only the second year that juneteenth is being observed as a national federal