IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
AN ORDINANCE repealing section 1401., Jackson County Code, 1984, relating to County holidays, and enacting, in lieu thereof, one new section relating to the same subject.
Intro
ORDINANCE NO. 5590, January 18, 2022
INTRODUCED BY Jalen Anderson, Crystal Williams, Dan Tarwater III, Ronald E. Finley, Tony Miller, Scott Burnett, Charlie Franklin, Jeanie Lauer, and Theresa Cass Galvin, County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, Juneteenth is one of the oldest known celebrations commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States; and,
WHEREAS, the first Juneteenth parades, held in Washington, D.C., annually from 1866 until 1901 and revived in 2002, celebrated the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the United States Congress, which occurred eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln; and,
WHEREAS, Juneteenth is traditionally known as a cultural event that celebrates the emancipation of slaves in America, even though not all enslaved persons were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation; and,
WHEREAS, three regiments of United States Colored Troops entered the Rio Grande Valley in the fall of 1864, long before Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, in June 1865 to issue General Order No. 3, announcing the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of all formerly enslaved people; and,
WHEREAS, Juneteenth was brought from Texas to Jackson County in 1980 by Horace M. Peterson III, founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America-Kansas City, as an annual heritage celebration and platform that recognizes the emancipation of enslaved Africans in America and pays tribute to the Black founders and important citizens of Jackson County; and,
WEHERAS, the Black Archives continues to play a vital role in Jackson County through the voluntary service of dedicated past and present members of its board of directors, a small staff, and comm...
Click here for full text