All state offices in La. to close Friday in honor of Juneteenth

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Governor John Bel Edwards introduced Monday (June 13) that every one state places of work in Louisiana will shut Friday, June 17 in observance of Juneteenth.

The nationwide vacation is widely known on June 19 to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved African Individuals within the U.S.

This marks the primary yr in Louisiana that every one state places of work will likely be closed in honor of the special occasion, which turned a authorized vacation in Louisiana in 2021.

Governor Edwards issued a press release concerning the vacation, saying, “Juneteenth honors the day when enslaved Individuals discovered of their freedom, which is a crucial second in American historical past and an applicable one to honor with a state vacation.”

He continued, “There’s a lot work left to be executed to make sure that all of our persons are handled equally and pretty by the regulation, by our establishments and by one another, however it’s my hope that Louisianans will take time on today to mirror in regards to the significance of freedom and equality and study in regards to the struggles of enslaved individuals in our nation.”

Final yr, Governor Edwards signed Act 128, which was sponsored by Rep. Larry Selders and co-authored by the complete Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.

The act designated the third Saturday in June as Juneteenth Day, a statewide vacation that acknowledged the day African Individuals have a good time Emancipation Day.

Lawmakers decreed that starting this yr, all state places of work will likely be closed the Friday earlier than Saturday, June 19.

Juneteenth was initially celebrated in Galveston, Texas the place enslaved individuals had been declared free beneath the phrases of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

Although they’d technically been declared free in 1863, some areas of the south had been gradual to stick to the brand new regulation, and because of this, Juneteenth was not celebrated till the tip of the civil warfare in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, and introduced to the enslaved African Individuals that they’d been freed.

Click on right here for a listing of Juneteenth occasions that will likely be celebrated in and across the Baton Rouge space this week.