Al Edwards Wants a National Juneteenth Holiday

As he has for 27 consecutive years, Texas State Legislator Al Edwards led a prayer breakfast June 17th at Ashton Villa in Galveston, celebrating Juneteenth, the nation's oldest celebration of the end of slavery in the United States.

"This is where it began," explained Rep. Edwards in a telephone interview from his Austin Texas office. "This is where Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston with news of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's proclamation had been effective Jan. 1, 1863, but the news didn't reach Texas until June 19, 1865. The Ashton Villa is a museum that commemorates that momentous time."

Rep. Edwards, often referred to as the "Father of Juneteenth," launched an initiative in the Texas legislature in 1979 to have this commemoration become a paid state holiday.

"It was an uphill battle first of all because there were only 14 blacks in a legislature with 150 members and there were no blacks in the State Senate. Even some of the black members didn't feel comfortable with the idea. Some other legislators argued, for example, that such a holiday would not be important in their district because they had no African Americans in their districts. Others would support an observance if it wasn't a paid holiday."

Undaunted, Edwards wrote, submitted and lobbied for House Bill 1016

"When the Farm and Ranch delegation came to be seeking my support of their farm and ranch bill which would be very beneficial to their constituents, I pointed out to them that I had no farmers or ranchers in my district," Edwards explained, giving an example of the tough-nosed political trading he had to use to win the bill's passage. "The legislature passed the law in 1979, and the holiday became effective in Texas the following year."

Thus, the Juneteenth state holiday in Texas became the first such observance in the nation commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. For 27 years, Edwards has quietly lobbied to expand this observance to other states.

"We need leaders in other states to spearhead initiatives to have Juneteenth established as a state holiday," Edwards said, "but we also need to be aware that holidays such as these cost millions of dollars, so we can't be haphazard in our efforts."

Edwards suggests the following three-step strategy for Juneteenth supporters if they want to join his efforts, known as Juneteeneth USA:

1. Have a broad, diverse group of people involved in your Juneteenth celebrations and activities, particularly local and state elected officials.

2. Organize a team of spokespersons who will explain both the significance and the value of the holiday throughout the year. This provides education and solicits additional support.

3. Find and support a small group of legislators-House and Senate-who will submit, support and struggle for a Juneteenth holiday bill.Edwards, who launched a website for his Juneteenth expansion vision at www.juneteenth.com, said his organization has information on about 30 states with regular annual celebrations.

"We encourage people with these celebrations to click on our website at the Celebrations tab, and end information about their specific Juneteeth activities," Edwards explained. "The more we know about what people are already doing, the help we can provide in expanding this state holiday concept nationally."

This year, the website currently showed about 50Juneteenth activities throughout the country.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Edwards didn't stop with the state holiday initiative. He also sponsored and supported the passage of a bill that established the Texas Emancipation Juneteenth Historic Commission, charged to discover lost history about the event, and to establish monuments and other recognitions across Texas. The Commission is a funded State Agency.

"While this celebration, and proposed state holiday for all states across the nation focuses on African American history, it's a holiday for all people," Edwards explained. "This event-the Emancipation Proclamation-set in motion a series of events that made accomplishments possible, even probable, that would not have been achieved if slavery had continued as an evil institution in this country."

That, according to Edwards, was President Abraham Lincoln's contribution to this process. The rest remains for African Americans to do.

"Nothing in what Lincoln wrote mentions celebrating this significant event." Edwards said. "We must structure, support and sustain such celebrations. This is similar to what God instructed Joshua to do as he led the Israelites into the Promised Land. He had them stack 12 stones at the place where they crossed. Then God told them when your children ask you about what the stones means, you tell them the whole story about how God delivered you into this Promised Land. A national celebration of Juneteenth, state by state, serves a similar purpose for us. Every year we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of events that one by one defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations. That's why we need this holiday."

A native of Houston, Texas, Edwards was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1978 and has served 13 consecutive terms. A former member of the board of Push International Trade Bureau Chicago, Edwards, a minister since 1993, also served as chairman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus from 1991 to 1997. He operates a real estate and mortgage brokerage firm.