MISS JUNETEENTH in theaters and on Digital and On-Demand on June 19, 2020.

MISS JUNETEENTH

***World Premiere - Sundance Film Festival 2020***

***Winner - Lone Star Award for Best Texan Film – SXSW Film Festival 2020***

MISS JUNETEENTH in theaters and on Digital and On-Demand on June 19, 2020. The film first premiered at this year’s Sundance and was a selection at this year’s SXSW Film Festival (winner of Lone Star Award for Best Texan Film).

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Juneteenth independence day, is an American holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of enslaved African Americans throughout the former Confederate States of America, outside Native American lands. Texas was the most remote of the slave states, and the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, was not enforced there until after the Confederacy collapsed. The name of the observance is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth", the date of its celebration.

At first, the celebration involved church-centered community gatherings in Texas. It spread across the South and became more commercialized between in the 1920s and 1930s. Often the centerpiece was a food festival. A third stage was reached in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s when the focus became the story of the struggle for postwar civil rights. The 1970s saw a fourth stage, which returned the focus to African American freedom and arts. 

By the 21st century, Juneteenth was celebrated in most major cities across the United States. Activists are pushing Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in 46 of the 50 states.

#Texas #USA #Racism #Activists #Congress #Slavery #Pandemic