What to know about Juneteenth now that it's a federal holiday | CNN

CNN —

Despite Juneteenth’s storied history, the holiday was largely overlooked by non-Black Americans until recent years.

The momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement propelled Juneteenth into the national spotlight, building on a decades-long push by activists and leaders to get recognition for the landmark occasion. Last year, Juneteenth became the latest federal holiday in the US – the first to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

With Juneteenth now a national holiday, many public and private sector employees enjoy an extra day off from work while brands and corporations capitalize on the event with celebratory marketing campaigns. But there’s much more to Juneteenth than a long weekend and branded products.

As Black Americans continue to face the same challenges and inequities that inspired so many to take to the streets in 2020, it’s worth reflecting on the history behind the holiday.

It celebrates the end of slavery

Juneteenth – also known as Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day and Emancipation Day – commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

A blend of the words June and nineteenth, it marks June 19, 1865: the day that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, proclaiming that the enslaved African Americans there were free.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” the order read. “This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

Freedom for the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, came two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which couldn’t be enforced in areas under Confederate control. It also came about two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia – an event generally considered to be the end of the Civil War.

How it’s celebrated

What began as an informal celebration of freedom by locals in Galveston eventually grew into a wider commemoration of the end of slavery as African Americans in Texas moved to other parts of the country. Today, many African Americans mark Juneteenth with parties, parades and gatherings with family and friends.

Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. In addition to it being a federal holiday, all 50 states and Washington, DC, recognize Juneteenth in some form.

As Juneteenth has made its way into the mainstream, some activists and leaders point to the systemic inequities that Black Americans continue to face, such as the racial wealth gap, disproportionate incarceration and longstanding health disparities. One coalition of civil and human rights groups, in particular, is acknowledging the holiday by installing a pan-African flag in front of the White House and calling for a commission to study reparations.

As many of those calling for widespread changes suggest, observing Juneteenth might then be an opportunity to reflect on how far the nation has come – and how much further there is to go.

What is Labor Day celebrating? How did the federal holiday begin?

For many Americans, Labor Day means the end of summer and beginning of the school year.

But the holiday really celebrates the social and economic achievements of American workers.

Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day in the late 19th century.

Labor Day for many Americans is a three-day weekend that marks the end of the summer and the start of the school year.

Nowadays, the holiday might be celebrated with anything from swimming at a beach or pool, grilling, or watching the first college football games of the season. But, how did the holiday come about?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the holiday is observed the first Monday in September to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers.

The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.

What's open and closed on Labor Day? What to know about post offices, schools, bank hours

Grilling your food wrong could be risky this Labor Day weekend:How to prepare it safely

When did Labor Day become a federal holiday?

Before it became a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states.

Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887, and that year four more states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – passed similar laws.

The Labor Department says by 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday, and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law.

What stores are open on Labor Day? Store hours for Walmart, Target, The Home Depot; Costco is closed

How did Labor Day start?

The Labor Department says it's not entirely clear who is the founder of Labor Day, but two workers can make a solid claim to its origins.

According to the Labor Department's website, some records show that in 1882, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested setting aside a day for a "general holiday for the laboring classes" to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged.

Many believe that machinist Matthew Maguire, not McGuire, founded the holiday.

Recent research seems to support the contention that Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882, while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

According to the New Jersey Historical Society, after President Cleveland signed the law to create a national Labor Day, the Paterson Morning Call published an opinion piece stating that "the souvenir pen should go to Alderman Matthew Maguire of this city, who is the undisputed author of Labor Day as a holiday."

Perhaps showing there were no hard feelings, both Maguire and McGuire attended the country’s first Labor Day parade in New York City that year.

Editor's note: A version of this story was first published in 2021.

Hitting the road for Labor Day weekend? Here's how much gas costs in your state

MLK Day: How Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday

Corrections & clarifications: A previous version of this story misstated the name of Coretta Scott King.

On the third Monday of January every year, the federal government closes up shop for a day to honor civil rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. — who was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

But the road to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was fraught. It didn't become a federal holiday until 1986, nearly 20 years after it was introduced to Congress, per the King Center. Even then, it faced an upward battle for all states to recognize the holiday, only getting nationally recognized in 2000.

To this day, it collides in Alabama and Mississippi with Robert E. Lee Day, which honors the Confederate general, in Alabama and Mississippi.

While the nation recognizes King as an "icon for democracy" today, in the 1960s and 1970s, he was still a controversial figure, according to Michael Honey, an American historian and professor of humanities at University of Washington, Tacoma.

“This was the first holiday around a national figure who is not a president, and who is African American,” Honey said. “Many in Congress did not want to recognize an African American that was thought of as a troublemaker by some in his day.”

How did Martin Luther King Jr. Day come to be a federal holiday?

On April 8, 1968, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., introduced legislation for a federal holiday, according to The King Center.

The next year, on Jan. 15, 1969, annual ceremonies commemorating King's birthday were launched by The King Center in Atlanta. It called for nationwide ceremonies and began working to gain support for the holiday.

Timeline:The life of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:10 most popular from the civil rights leader

In the 1970s, support for a national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday grew. Several states, including Illinois, Massachusetts and Connecticut, become the first states to enact statewide King holidays, but Congress failed to act on a national level, according to The King Center.

"The campaign to get the holiday started almost immediately after he was killed, and people worked on it for a long time before it happened,” said Honey, who wrote "Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign."

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter called on Congress to vote on the King Holiday Bill. Not everyone was on board, and the bill was defeated by five votes in the House in November 1979.

Despite years of setbacks, King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, continued to fight for approval of the holiday and testified before Congress multiple times.

How does Stevie Wonder factor into the history of MLK Day?

Following the defeat of the bill, Stevie Wonder released "Happy Birthday," in support of enacting a national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, according to The King Center.

The song became a hit, and in the early 1980s, Wonder worked with Coretta Scott King to gain support for the national holiday, according to the King Center.

In 1982, King and Wonder delivered a petition with 6 million signatures in favor of the holiday to the speaker of the House.

When did MLK Day become a holiday?

On Nov. 3, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill marking the third Monday of January, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to the center. The holiday was to begin in 1986.

In January 1986, the first national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed. According to the center, by this time, 17 states had already enacted King holidays.

If King's birthday is Jan. 15, why is MLK Day on the third Monday in January?

You can thank the Uniform Monday Holiday Act for that, according to the Department of Labor. The bill was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and originally designated that three federal holidays – Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Washington's birthday – would fall on Monday, according to the bill. It also recognized Columbus Day as a federal holiday. Years later, Veterans Day was returned to its original date of Nov. 11.

50 years later:For those at Lorraine Motel when MLK was killed, what does it mean to witness martyrdom?

The act was meant to "enable families who live some distance apart to spend more time together" and allow federal employees time to travel, Johnson said in a 1968 statement.

So, while King's birthday is Wednesday, Jan. 15, this year, it is celebrated like some of the other floating holidays under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Contributing: Mary Bowerman, USA TODAY

What is Memorial Day and why do we celebrate it in the US?

No, Memorial Day isn't about a long weekend road trip, backyard barbecue or sales. The real meaning of the national holiday is much more somber.

Originally called Decoration Day, Monday's holiday honors all soldiers who died during service to the nation.

Memorial Day was declared a national holiday through an act of Congress in 1971, and its roots date back to the Civil War era, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Unlike Veterans Day, Memorial Day honors all military members who have died in while serving in U.S. forces.

Ahead of this year’s holiday, here are some Memorial Day facts you might not know:

What is Memorial Day and why do we celebrate it?

The origins of the holiday can be traced back to local observances for soldiers with neglected gravesites during the Civil War.

The first observance of what would become Memorial Day, some historians think, took place in Charleston, S.C., at the site of a horse racing track that Confederates had turned into a prison holding Union prisoners. Blacks in the city organized a burial of deceased Union prisoners and built a fence around the site, Yale historian David Blight wrote in The New York Times in 2011.

Then on May 1, 1865, they held an event there including a parade – Blacks who fought in the Civil War participated – spiritual readings and songs, and picnicking. A commemorative marker was erected there in 2010.

One of the first Decoration Days was held in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866 by women who decorated graves of Confederate soldiers who perished in the battle at Shiloh with flowers.

On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, the tradition of placing flowers on veterans’ graves was continued by the establishment of Decoration Day by an organization of Union veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic.

General Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first large observance, a crowd of about 5,000 people, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 30, 1873. The orphaned children of soldiers and sailors killed during the war placed flowers and small American flags atop both Union and Confederate graves throughout the entire cemetery.

This tradition continues to thrive in cemeteries of all sizes across the country.

Until World War I, Civil War soldiers were solely honored on this holiday. Now, all Americans who’ve served are observed.

At least 25 places in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Some states that claim ownership of the origins include Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, according to Veterans Affairs.

Despite conflicting claims, the U.S. Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, as the “birthplace” of Memorial Day on May 30, 1966, after Governor Nelson Rockefeller's declaration that same year. The New York community formally honored local veterans May 5, 1866 by closing businesses and lowering flags at half-staff.

What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?

Memorial Day and Veterans Day both honor the sacrifices made by U.S. Veterans but serve different purposes.

Veterans’ Day, originally called “Armistice Day,” is a younger holiday established in 1926 as a way to commemorate all those who had served in the U.S. armed forces during World War I. Memorial Day honors all those who’ve died.

Veterans Day is observed on Nov. 11 to signify the Armistice that ended combat in World War I in 1918.

After World War II, Armistice Day's purpose broadened and changed in 1954 to recognize those who have served in all American wars.

What's open and closed on Memorial Day?:What to know about mail delivery, store hours

Why is Memorial Day in May?

The day that we celebrate Memorial Day is believed to be influenced by Illinois U.S. Representative John A. Logan, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in November 1858, and served as an officer during the Mexican War.

It is said that Logan, a staunch defender of the Union, believed Memorial Day should occur when flowers are in full bloom across the country, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Army.

Congress passed an act making May 30 a holiday in the District of Columbia in 1888, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

Now Memorial Day is observed as the last Monday of May.

In 2000 The National Moment of Remembrance Act – which created the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance and encourages all to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence – was signed into law by Congress and the President.

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee: Palace reveals how Queen's ...

CNN —

This year is set to be a landmark one for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

It is her Platinum Jubilee – marking 70 years since the Queen first took the throne in 1952 and making her both the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-serving female head of state in history.

To celebrate the unprecedented anniversary, a number of events will take place throughout the UK over the year – culminating in a four-day national bank holiday weekend from Thursday June 2 until Sunday June 5, known as the Jubilee Weekend.

The holiday itself will include a variety of public events and community activities, as well as “national moments of reflection” on the Queen’s 70 years of service.

The upcoming celebrations will be the Queen’s first jubilee without her husband, Prince Philip, who died in 2021.

The monarch’s private estates – including Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle – will also join in with Jubilee themed events.

One of the initiatives due to take place as part of the celebrations is known as the “Platinum Pudding” celebration – a nationwide baking competition seeking out a new dessert dedicated to the Queen. UK residents aged 8 and over will be invited to create a recipe and the finalists will be judged by a panel including famed baker Mary Berry, Monica Galetti and the Buckingham Palace head chef Mark Flanagan.

The winning recipe will then be made available to the public ahead of the Jubilee Weekend.

Other events planned to mark the occasion include the “BBC Platinum Party at the Palace” – a live concert which promises to bring together some of the world’s biggest entertainment stars to celebrate significant moments from the Queen’s reign.

On Thursday June 2, more than 1,500 towns, villages and cities throughout the UK and its overseas territories will light a beacon to mark the Jubilee. The capitals of Commonwealth countries will also light beacons – even as sentiment towards the British monarch in the Commonwealth now differs throughout different nations.

The Jubilee Weekend celebrations will also see “Big Jubilee Lunches” take place across Britain, including flagship events in London and at Cornwall’s Eden Project – where the idea for the lunches originated.

A Platinum Jubilee Pageant will also be held, in which artistic performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers will unite to tell the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in a festival of creativity. It will take place in London and will include street arts, theater, music, circus, costumes, and visual technology.

This pageant will involve a “River of Hope” section that will comprise 200 silk flags that will process down The Mall – the road in London that leads to Buckingham Palace – like a river. School children are invited to create a picture of their hopes and aspirations for the planet over the next 70 years.

The artwork for the flags will be focused on climate change and incorporate the children’s messages for the future.

The pageant will take place on June 5, the last day of the Platinum Jubilee Weekend celebrations, as the events marking the monarch’s historic 70-year reign draw to a close.

CNN has launched Royal News, a new weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and what’s happening behind palace walls. Sign up here.

Hannah Ryan Max Foster
Hannah Ryan
Max Foster

Indigenous Peoples' Day: Everything you need to know about the ...

What started in 1977 as a day of respect at a discrimination conference has now become a national holiday honored by President Joe Biden.

Indigenous Peoples' Day, which honors Native American history and culture, falls on the calendar the same day Columbus Day, first recognized as a national holiday in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Columbus Day has prompted political debate in states, cities and municipalities around the U.S., especially in the past decade, with many favoring Indigenous Peoples' Day instead.

“For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures,” Biden wrote in the Indigenous Peoples’ Day proclamation. “... We recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.”

What is Indigenous Peoples' Day?

Indigenous Peoples' Day is a holiday that celebrates and honors Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures.

The celebrating of an Indigenous Peoples Day took root at an international conference on discrimination sponsored by the United Nations in 1977. South Dakota was the first state to recognize the day in 1989, and the cities of Berkeley and Santa Cruz, California, followed.

Holiday:8 thoughtful ways to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day

President Biden:First president marks Indigenous Peoples' Day with presidential proclamation

In 1990, the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations, began to discuss replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day.

California and Tennessee observe Native American Day in September, not conflicting with Columbus Day.

“For over 500 years, Indigenous people have been fighting for their survival, land and rights,” Les Begay, a Diné Nation member and co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition of Illinois, said at a rally Monday in Chicago. “Each October, when Columbus is honored, it further diminishes and erases Native people, their history and their culture.”

Biden commemorated Indigenous Peoples' Day. What does that mean?

On Friday, Biden issued the first presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The president's proclamation serves as the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of native peoples.

Biden also issued a proclamation of Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 11, which is established by Congress.

“Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities,” Biden wrote. “It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them.”

What states and cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day?

Over a dozen states and more than 130 local governments have chosen to not celebrate Columbus Day altogether or replace it with Indigenous Peoples' Day. Many states celebrate both. Eleven U.S. states celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day or a holiday of a similar name via proclamation, while 10 others treat it as an official holiday. The 10 states that observe the holiday via proclamation are Arizona, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C.

And the 10 that officially celebrate it are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota and Vermont.

Some tribal groups in Oklahoma celebrate Native American Day in lieu of Columbus Day, with some groups naming the day in honor of their individual tribes.

More than 100 cities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Is Columbus Day gone? Why is it controversial?

Though some groups argue that Columbus Day, which is still a federal holiday, celebrates Italian American heritage, many say the holiday glorifies an exploration that led to the genocide of native peoples and paved the way for slavery.

Although Columbus is credited as the "discoverer" of the New World, millions of people already inhabited the Americas. Columbus made four expeditions to the Caribbean and South America over two decades, enslaving and decimating populations and opening the floodgates of European colonization.

Many groups have called for the removal of monuments to Columbus, as well as to Confederate generals.

Columbus Day celebrations date back to 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landfall. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday in 1934 – one of 10 official federal holidays.

Are businesses closed Monday?

Most banks and post offices in the country are closed on Monday, with the day being recognized as a federal holiday.

Also closed are any agencies or institutions operated by the government, such as libraries, federal offices, and DMVs.

While locally owned businesses are up to the owner, supermarkets and most drug stores are open. Same goes for staples Target, Walmart, Stabucks and Dunkin' Donuts.

National parks are also open.

Contributing: Grace Hauck, Associated Press, Times Record News

Why Juneteenth is a federal holiday for all, not just Black folks

DC residents have been commemorating Juneteenth long before it became a federal holiday in 2021.

The DC Council is considering a bill to set up a commission to coordinate annual Juneteenth events and educational programs throughout the year.

“It is a national holiday for all Americans, not just Black people," said one Juneteenth event organizer.

WASHINGTON – Charles Hicks, known as “Mr. Black History,” remembers hosting Juneteenth events in the 1980s at the main public library in the heart of downtown.

The event showcased poetry, music, panel discussions and activities helping Black residents trace their family history. It started with about 15 people, but over the years grew to as many as 300 packed in the library's lobby.

What is Indigenous Peoples Day? Is it offensive to celebrate ...

Last year President Biden made Indigenous Peoples Day a federal holiday

Columbus Day is still celebrated, although it's controversial and declining

Native American experts see the holiday as an act of respecting past suffering more than celebration

The second Monday of October has been a national holiday for close to a century, but this will be only the second year that Indigenous Peoples Day has held that designation.

Last October, President Joe Biden signed the first presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day, a commemoration-turned-holiday that began in 1977 to honor Native American history and culture. That presidential stamp of approval was the most significant boost to date of efforts refocusing a federal holiday that for decades celebrated Christopher Columbus' discovery of America.

Although few Americans are arguing with the notion of being off work come Monday, Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day have prompted political debate in states, cities and municipalities around the U.S., especially in the past decade, with some pushing against change and others favoring Indigenous Peoples Day instead.

History of Halloween: How well do you know the holiday?

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What is Indigenous Peoples Day?

The celebrating of an Indigenous Peoples Day took root in 1977 at an international conference on discrimination sponsored by the United Nations. It's grown as a day to honor Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. South Dakota was the first state to recognize the day in 1989, and the California cities of Berkeley and Santa Cruz followed.

In 1990, the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations, began to discuss replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. California and Tennessee observe Native American Day in September, not conflicting with Columbus Day.

Scott Stevens, the director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at Syracuse University, said Indigenous Peoples Day is about resilience of what past cultures have endured as much as it is about honoring heritage.

"It is the recognition of our survival and, in many cases, resistance and even flourishing," Stevens told USA TODAY. "There still are a lot of social and economic problems that Indigenous communities experience. There's also this idea that American Indians and Native Americans, that we're all one people. But we have diversity and our cultures are vastly different. One thing we all have in common is that our ancestors suffered because of American colonialism, so it serves as an opportunity where we can turn to each other in unity."

How and where is Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated?

What states and cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day?

Over a dozen states and more than 130 local governments have chosen to not celebrate Columbus Day altogether or replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day. Many states celebrate both. Eleven U.S. states celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day or a holiday of a similar name via proclamation, while 10 others treat it as an official holiday. The 10 states that observe the holiday via proclamation are Arizona, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C.

And the 10 that officially celebrate it are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota and Vermont.

Some tribal groups in Oklahoma celebrate Native American Day in lieu of Columbus Day, with some groups naming the day in honor of their individual tribes.

More than 100 cities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Stevens said that Indigenous Peoples Day being federally recognized paves way for more allies and a space for Americans to educate themselves on a deeper level, as adults, about atrocities throughout U.S. history.

"Having a federal holiday can serve as less of a celebration but more so a recognition to past and present experiences," Stevens said. "I see (Indigenous Peoples Day) as an opportunity to have more critical discussion about our American history, more than what people learn in the fourth grade about the first Thanksgiving and Pocahontas.

"Having a day recognized or having critical discussion is not anti-American. What's anti-American is self-censoring what we've been through," he said.

What's open, closed on Indigenous Peoples' and Columbus Day?:What to know about mail delivery, bank hours

Is it offensive to celebrate Columbus Day?

Last year when Biden issued the proclamation for Indigenous Peoples Day, he also issued a proclamation of Columbus Day, established by Congress and first recognized as a national holiday in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In his 2021 speech, Biden praised the role of Italian Americans in U.S. society, but also referenced the violence and harm Columbus and other explorers of the age brought about on the Americas.

"We also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on tribal nations and Indigenous communities,” Biden said. “It is a measure of our greatness as a nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past – that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them.”

Though some groups argue that Columbus Day, which is still a federal holiday, celebrates Italian American heritage, many say the holiday glorifies an exploration that led to the genocide of native peoples and paved the way for slavery.

Stevens said celebrating Columbus Day is outdated because of the cyclical and residual hurt caused from the past: "To have had American colonialism looked at throughout history as not being a problem and celebrated as a good thing is deeply problematic to any of us who live in a (Native-American) community or reservation."

Stevens argued some Americans have a tendency to ignore that Native Americans were "forced to be assimilated into Euro-American culture," and hold a misconception that Indigenous communities are only "set in the past."

"We're a minority of three percent in a land that in 1491 was one hundred percent ours," Stevens said.

Although Columbus is credited as the "discoverer" of the New World, millions of people already inhabited the Americas. Columbus made four expeditions to the Caribbean and South America over two decades, enslaving and decimating populations and opening the floodgates of European colonization.

Many groups have called for the removal of monuments to Columbus.

"For over 500 years, Indigenous people have been fighting for their survival, land and rights,” Les Begay, a Diné Nation member and co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples Day Coalition of Illinois, said last October. “Each October, when Columbus is honored, it further diminishes and erases Native people, their history and their culture."

When was Columbus Day established?

Columbus Day celebrations date back to 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landfall. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday in 1934 – one of 10 official federal holidays.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story published in 2021.

What is Flag Day 2021 and is it a federal holiday? What's open?

Stuck between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, Flag Day often gets overlooked.

Perhaps not completely ignored, but Flag Day isn't celebrated as much as other holidays associated with our nation's beginnings.

The holiday was established by President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916 but failed to be recognized as a federal holiday when it was not included in the 1968 Uniform Holiday Act.

Legislation signed by former President Harry Truman in 1949 proclaimed Flag Day as a national holiday, but it never made the federal list.

Last week, President Joe Biden declared June 13, 2021 the start of National Flag Week and directed officials to display the flag on all federal government building this week.

When is Flag Day 2021?

Flag Day is on June 14 every year. In 2021, Flag Day is on Monday.

What is the meaning of Flag Day?

It is the day, 244 years ago, when Congress commemorated Betsy Ross' creation of the Stars & Stripes as our national flag.

The flag has looked different throughout those years, of course, 27 variations, actually, as America grew through the colonies to the 50 states represented in the white stars today.

Need an American flag replaced?:This Comcast worker has helped replace over 400 tattered American flags

Is Flag Day a federal holiday?

No. Flag Day is not considered to be a federal holiday, but Pennsylvania is the only state that recognizes it as a legal holiday.

New York recognizes the second Sunday of June as Flag Day.

Is mail delivered on Flag Day?

Yes. Since Flag Day is not a federal holiday, mail should be received just like any other day.

Are banks, schools open on Flag Day?

Yes. Much like the mail, students who are still in school should still have class and banks should be operating like any other day since Flag Day is not a federal holiday.

Other Flag Day facts and history

Other interesting facts about the American Flag can be found at the National Flag Foundation website, including:

The Red, White and Blue: Red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.

Today's design: A 17-year-old high school student, Robert G. Heft, of Lancaster, Ohio, submitted the design in a contest in 1958, chosen from more than 1,500 submissions by President Dwight Eisenhower.

To the moon: Several flags have made the trip to the moon, not just the one placed by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Additional Apollo missions, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, also featured an astronaut placing a flag on the moon.

Contributing: Asha Gilbert, USA TODAY

Ready to celebrate our new national holiday? Here comes Juneteenth

What wasn't even a state-recognized holiday just one year ago will — suddenly — be celebrated as the newest federal holiday when it rolls around again this Saturday.

"Juneteenth" — June 19 — was unanimously voted a federal holiday by the Senate on Tuesday. The measure to pass a Juneteenth National Independence Day passed the House by a large margin Wednesday. On Thursday afternoon, President Joe Biden signed it into law.

"Today we consecrate Juneteenth for what it ought to be, for what it must be, a national holiday," Biden said before picking up a pen and signing into law America's newest national holiday at 4:04 p.m. EDT.

Both New Jersey, which made Juneteenth a state observance on Sept. 10, and New York, which made Juneteenth a state holiday on Oct. 14, were ahead of the curve in recognizing the holiday. So was Bergen County — which leaves Randy Glover, producer of the county's Juneteenth Celebration in Overpeck Park on Saturday from noon to 6 p.m., feeling good about himself and his colleagues.

"They decided to do this without knowing it would be a national holiday," Glover said. "This puts the county on a good footing."

This Saturday's event, done in cooperation with the Bergen County NAACP and other county entities, is liable to be bigger and more important than anyone had imagined.

"I'm excited because a lot of people will get an opportunity to experience what we're offering," Glover said.

The joy is mixed with other feelings.

Juneteenth, celebrated since 1866 as a day of African American freedom, has become a flashpoint in the Black Lives Matter era.

"This is a day, in my view, of profound weight and profound power," Biden said Thursday. "A day in which we remember the moral stain and the terrible toll that slavery took and continues to take … At the same time, I also remember the extraordinary capacity to heal and hope and emerge from those painful moments and a bitter, bitter version of ourselves, to make a better version of ourselves."

The movement to get Juneteenth declared a national holiday has been building for years.

But now that it has arrived — passed by a Congress that has been unable to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and at a time when some states are trying to restrict how history is taught, and the extent to which racial injustice can be acknowledged — some have expressed cynicism about the timing. Crumbs, they say. A sop to silence the critics. Biden acknowledged this in his signing speech, when he talked about the movement to restrict voter access. Glover can sympathize with such skepticism.

"We have another holiday to celebrate who we are and what we are," he said. "But equality always seems to be left out of the equation. So we don't have voting rights, but we have another day to go shopping."

Even so, the federal government recognizing Juneteenth is no small thing.

It's the first new federal holiday added to the calendar since Martin Luther King Day in 1983. "They have not amended the calendar for 30 or 40 years," said Deborah Evans, vice chair of the board of directors for the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. That's what their organization had been pushing for since 1994. Their petition bears 1.5 million signatures

And rightly so, said Wayne Bass, grand marshal of this year's Juneteenth celebration in White Plains, New York (held virtually, because of COVID, on the 12th).

"I think there should be recognition by the United States government that we have made significant contributions to the nation as a whole," Bass said.

The "teenth" of Juneteenth — as many in the U.S. have only started to learn — is June 19, 1865. That was the day Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform the residents kept as slaves that they were free. Had been, since Jan. 1, 1863.

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Juneteenth, in other words, celebrates people who were free but didn't know it. Which might make it the most American holiday of all.

"We have it, within ourselves, to be the democracy we should have always been," Glover said. "By taking this opportunity to be clear about what the past was, we can start celebrating the future."

Juneteenth was a big thing last year — the year of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. It's a bigger thing now.

By the time Congress got around to its historic vote this week, all but one state in the union — South Dakota — had recognized Juneteenth in some way (Hawaii signed its bill just this week). Some states, like New Jersey, simply marked the day with proclamations, educational programs and so on.

Seven states — Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, New York and Pennsylvania — recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday. State employees were to have the day off, schools were to be closed. Five of those seven states enacted the legislation within the last year.

Among the private companies that had been giving their employees paid Juneteenth leave: Nike, Mastercard, Uber, Best Buy, Target, J.C. Penney, the NFL, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Gannett.

Some have likened Juneteenth to an African American Fourth of July. But it's more than that, Evans said. Juneteenth, rightly considered, is a continuation of Independence Day — the sequel to Liberty and Justice for All.

"We say Juneteenth completed the cycle of freedom," Evans said. "Fourth of July freed the country from the British. Juneteenth freed all the people. This is a completion."

Not that there's anything wrong with the Fourth of July. Fireworks, hot dogs, Sousa — all very nice.

But some Americans have always felt July 4 didn't quite tell the whole story. And not just this year. That feeling is actually a very old one.

"What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?" Frederick Douglass thundered, famously, to a crowd in Rochester, New York, in 1852.

"I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim," Douglass said. "To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity … [They] are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages."

That feeling has not gone away.

"Juneteenth is becoming more well known because of Black Lives Matter," said Mofalc O. Meinga of Jersey City, president of the Frederick Douglass Juneteenth Celebration Inc., which staged its first Juneteenth event in 2000.

"There are events popping up all over," said Meinga. His group, a Jersey branch of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, has been doing ceremonies around the state this month: two flag-raisings in Jersey City so far (on the first and the fifteenth), another in Trenton at 4:30 p.m. Friday (co-sponsored by the African American Cultural Collaborative of Mercer County) and a motor caravan through Linden on the 19th, at 11:30 a.m.

"Our mission is to bring all Americans together to celebrate our common bond of freedom," Meinga said.

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Everything old is new

Juneteenth is both one of the oldest and one of the newest holidays on the calendar. Old in terms of its origins. New in terms of its national profile.

It was first celebrated in Texas on June 19, 1866 — one year after the event it commemorates. That, by the way, was more a symbolic than an actual milestone: there were people held as slaves in Delaware and Kentucky even after June 19, 1865.

Under various names — Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Emancipation Day — Juneteenth was celebrated in the Southwest and the South over the next century. In 1938 it was recognized by proclamation in Texas: "Whereas, June 19, 1938, this year falls on Sunday…[I] do urge all members of the Negro race in Texas to observe the day in a manner appropriate to its importance to them," proclaimed Gov. James V. Allred.

But Juneteenth never gained much traction in the North. And by the 1960s civil rights era, some came to see it as old-fashioned. So depending on where you grew up, Juneteenth might be a blowout celebration. Or it might get you a blank look.

"I went to private school, so that was not on my radar," Glover said. "The nuns were not so into Juneteenth."

By the late 1960s, interest began to revive: June 19 became the "solidarity day" of the 1968 Poor People's Campaign of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1979, Texas made it a state holiday — the first state to do so. And as populations in the U.S. became more mobile, they brought Juneteenth with them.

"Juneteenth is not something that has been adequately appreciated in the Northeast," said Pastor Eddie Spencer IV of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Englewood. He grew up in Burlington; he heard about Juneteenth from his roommate at Virginia Union University in Richmond — a Texan.

These days there is much more regional mixing. So word is getting out.

"it depends on who you interact with," Spencer said. "In certain areas, for instance Essex County, you find a lot of people from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and possibly Alabama. When you get into areas like Jersey City you come into contact with people from Mississippi. There are not a whole lot of Texans here, historically. But now with the boom of businesses going global, you can run into people from Texas."

By 1994 there was a National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. By 1997, it had a flag — the national (copyrighted) Juneteenth Flag, designed by Ben Haith of Massachusetts. Red, white and blue, with a great star erupting out of the middle.

"It's the bursting star of freedom," said Steve Williams, president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. "The new horizon is the blue. The red is the ground soaked with the blood we shed for this country, from the middle passage to the current day."

The stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other victims of the past year have made Juneteenth seem newly important. People wanted to learn about it.

"Each year, you go through a period where you have to explain what Juneteenth is," Bass said. "This is one of the first years where people understand it. It seems there was some more clarity of the last year, and understanding, and interest in it."

But no one changed the game like former President Donald Trump, when he scheduled a rally for June 19, 2020, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of the worst race massacre in U.S. history (marking its own 100th anniversary this year). In the resulting uproar — eventually the date was changed — Juneteenth was suddenly on everybody's radar. "I made Juneteenth very famous," Trump boasted.

"The fact that he had planned it in Tulsa lets you know he had no clue," Meinga said. "Until someone told him it was not a good idea."

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Many ways to celebrate

Everyone knows how you celebrate July Fourth. Bottle rockets, barbecues, bunting. But how do you celebrate Juneteenth? In the Northeast, it varies from community to community.

There might be a raising of the Juneteenth flag. There might be a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, or of General Order No. 3, the original announcement Major General Granger read to the enslaved populations of Galveston and their former masters on June 19, 1865:

"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves."

Other towns are doing more elaborate things.

Saturday's event at Overpeck Park, produced by Glover's Tri-Arc Community Development Corporation, will include food and entertainment. An invocation by traditional African drummer Pernell Bess will be followed by a jazz trio featuring veteran players Abel Mireles (tenor sax), Radam Schwartz (organ) and Bernard "Pocket" Davis (drums) and the funk band The Total Eclipse. The amphitheater in the Ridgefield Park section is where it all happens.

"This is a big public event. It's big for Bergen County," Glover said.

The Bergen County NAACP (which will be presenting lifetime achievement awards), the county executive's office, the county Parks Department and Bergen Community College are all co-presenting. Several other local organizations will have a presence, including Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center, Holy Name Medical Center and New Bridge Medical Center. Vaccinations will be offered on-site.

"The mere fact that all these Bergen County entities are joining in is a game changer," Glover said.

It means that Juneteenth has, in this area at least, arrived.

"It's probably more relevant now than in previous years, because of the tumultuous times we are in politically," Glover said. "When you look at voting rights being restricted in the South, and the other things that are happening, you're talking about disenfranchisement on a national level. Now it's going to be a misdemeanor to give somebody some water? Black people are fighting for the same things as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the Panthers, all these groups that fought to bring us forward."

In Yonkers, New York, the urgency of the times demanded a three-day celebration.

On Friday, the Pan-African Flag will be raised at City Hall, and a Juneteenth King and Queen will be proclaimed. On Saturday, in Trevor Park & Playground on Ravine Avenue, there will be educational symposiums, a musical tribute to rapper DMX (a native of neighboring Mount Vernon), youth talent and award shows. On Sunday in the park, an outdoor unity worship service will be followed by a summer stage full of live performers and live bands. There will be vendors and food.

"We try to balance the story so it's not all jubilee, but it's still a celebration of our freedom from chattel slavery," said Robert Winstead, president of the Yonkers African American Heritage Committee, which has produced the event since 2015. It grew out of an African American heritage festival the group has been doing since 1975.

"We just thought it would make a lot of sense to join that to the national Juneteenth celebration," Winstead said. "It gives us more context."

Juneteenth, however it's celebrated, is a joyful, welcoming event. It originated with, and is specifically pertinent to, African Americans — but it can be celebrated by people of all backgrounds.

Only it does ask something of us: a willingness to fully acknowledge American history. The bad, as well as the good. That's the only way all of us — the whole country — can move forward. Together.

"There's been this sweeping-under-the-rug mentality," Spencer said. "And after all these years, no one wants to admit we've run out of rug."

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Jim Beckerman is an entertainment and culture reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to his insightful reports about how you spend your leisure time, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: beckerman@northjersey.com

Twitter: @jimbeckerman1