Amata Highlights Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom

Pago Pago - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata is highlighting the Juneteenth national holiday which celebrates freedom and a major step in the realization of American founding ideals.

"In 2021, Congress officially recognized the Juneteenth national holiday to celebrate freedom and promote unity," said Congresswoman Amata. "The United States has long been known as the land of the free, but the events culminating in the news on Juneteenth in 1865 meant freedom for all. Juneteenth is dear to the hearts of our African American countrymen and women and we celebrate together the power of freedom, human rights and dignity.

"We pray the cause of freedom will always prevail, and every generation will stand ready to defend cherished freedoms," she continued. "We're proud of our own Toa o Samoa enlisted in the cause of freedom, and we will always treasure our great national values of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'"

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when the news of freedom reached the last known place practicing slavery in the United States - the same year that the Civil War ended, but two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the historic Emancipation Proclamation on New Year's Day, 1863.

###