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Why Juneteenth matters

Celebrating America's 'second Independence Day'

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June 15, 2022 6:01pm EDT

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CELEBRATING FREEDOM

Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday, celebrates the freedom of enslaved people in the United States at the end of the Civil War. As the country marks what some call its "second Independence Day," we reflect on the present and the past.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTIANNA COX

What is Black joy—and how do you photograph it?

In these images and videos, Black visual artists and photographers chronicle the untold stories, traditions, and celebrations that compound into the bittersweet experience of Black joy. "I wanted to share stories that were not being told from my perspective, not only through a camera lens, but through my cultural lens as well."

SEE THE IMAGES

JUNETEENTH 101: How this day came to be +

THROWING A PARTY? Revive the tea cake of Juneteenth parties past +

CELEBRATING WITH CHILDREN: What the holiday means +

PHOTOGRAPH BY GRAHAM DICKIE

In the birthplace of Juneteenth, 'we're still on a march forward for absolute equality’

The birthplace of this holiday sits on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles from Houston. That's where Union Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order Number 3, which ended the enslavement of Black people in Texas—a full two-and-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

READ ON

FORGOTTEN HISTORY: The first emancipation proclamation wasn't issued by Abraham Lincoln +

THE LEGACY OF REBELLION: How two centuries of slave revolts shaped American history +

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUJÁN AGUSTI

Why does this Mexican community celebrate Juneteenth?

The "Southern Underground Railroad" helped formerly enslaved people reach freedom in northern Mexico. One village here has observed Juneteenth or "Día de los Negros" for 150 years.

A LITTLE KNOWN STORY

RECKONING WITH THE PAST

"This is a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take."
— President Biden, on Juneteenth

PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM

The day a white mob destroyed a Black community

In 1921 rioters killed as many as 300 people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, devastating a prosperous area for generations. Now the city is trying to reckon with the disgrace.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

REDUCED TO ASHES: See how the Tulsa massacre robbed a Black community of generational wealth +

JACK DELANO, PHOTOQUEST/GETTY

After the Civil War, Jim Crow laws created 'slavery by another name'

The laws circumvented protections that had been put in place after the end of war.

THE BIRTH OF JIM CROW

MAP BY RILEY D. CHAMPINE

How 'redlining' created some oppressively hot neighborhoods

Decades of discriminatory practices reshaped urban landscapes.

10 DEGREES HOTTER

PHOTOGRAPH BY TODD HEISLER, NEW YORK TIMES

The legacy of segregation lurks beneath America's public swimming pools

From white violence to the rise of exclusive swim clubs, people of color have long faced barriers to American swimming pools.

READ ON

'AMERICA'S BEST IDEA': Here's how national parks are working to fight racism +

TRACING OUR ROOTS

"Your history didn't start on the shores of the United States. It didn't start with slavery. Your history started [in] Africa at the beginning of time, the beginning of civilization."
—Albert José Jones, a co-founder of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID DOUBILET, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

How the search for lost slave ships led sparked an extraordinary journey

Explorer Tara Roberts took up diving to learn about the human side of a tragic era. She wound up connecting with her family’s inspiring past.

DIVE DEEPER

PHOTOGRAPH BY WAYNE LAWRENCE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

'Into the Depths'

In this special episode of Overheard in celebration of Juneteenth, we reconnect with Rolex/National Geographic Explorer of the Year Tara Roberts, who upends her life to join a group of Black scuba divers searching for the wrecks of ships that carried enslaved Africans to the Americas.

LISTEN NOW

THE STORIES YOU HAVEN'T HEARD

The women who mutinied ››

The maritime Underground Railroad ››

CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES

How the Harlem Renaissance helped forge a new sense of Black identity

Sparked by an influx of Black Southerners seeking better lives in the north, this early 20th century explosion of Black cultural expression left its mark on generations of civil rights activists, artists, and thinkers.

'THE BLACK MECCA'

LOST ANCESTRY: A new tool hopes to uncover the lost stories of enslaved African Americans +

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Why Juneteenth matters

Celebrating America's 'second Independence Day'

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