KENTUCKY — Juneteenth has been an unofficial holiday across the United States for more than 150 years. 48 states have made it a statewide holiday. 

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day and Freedom Day — commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, where Union soldiers brought them the news two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

And this year it is taking on added meaning, as it lands in the middle of the nationwide conversations around equality, systemic change and police accountability.

Here in Kentucky, Juneteenth is not celebrated statewide as an official holiday, however in 2020, Gov. Andy Beshear signed a proclamation recognizing Juneteenth in Kentucky.

"It's an incredibly important milestone. I support Juneteenth being a state holiday. It is one that truly recognizes our past for what it is, and also hope it makes us reflect, like many of our holidays do, on being that I think it shows inclusivity. If this country is truly a country of all of us, we got to recognize both the good and the bad for when we have and have not lived up to that," adds Gov. Beshear.

Several leaders in state government have publicly stated that they would back a bill during this year’s 2021 legislative session, making Juneteenth a state holiday, but, according to the Legislative Research Commission, no bill was ever filed.

State Rep. Pamela Stevenson of Louisville is a member of the House Democrats and took office in January 2021. During this In Focus Kentucky segment, Rep. Stevenson shares her perspective on the topic.

"It is actually a template for how we all can move toward the promise of America. So when you look at it. In the midst of no agreement. At a time when we were slaves and we were then slaves after the proclamation, and we had no rights, there were people not listening to us when we were treated inhumanely. We chose to celebrate freedom and build. And that's what Juneteenth says to me, is that if we can do that, in the midst of having nothing. If we can celebrate ourselves and we can celebrate our culture, if we can celebrate being alive and build on that with nothing given to us, then there's no limit to what we can cause now for all of America. That's what it means to celebrate and move toward the promise of America," explains State Rep. Stevenson