GALVESTON, Texas — Former President Joe Biden spoke about unity on Thursday night at a celebration for Juneteenth held in a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas.
“Juneteenth stands for the long, difficult night of slavery and oppression and the hope for a joyful future,” Biden expressed to those gathered at Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church.
Back in 2021, Biden signed a bill that made Juneteenth an official federal holiday. This day honors the end of slavery, marking June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers delivered the news of freedom to Black individuals who were enslaved in Galveston.
Reedy Chapel, often referred to as the “Mother Church of Texas,” was where enslaved people gathered to worship.
“It’s important because it’s not only Black history but American history,” said Greg Sherman, who attended the Juneteenth celebration
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That church, the first and oldest operating AME church in the state, is one of the locations where an order announcing the end of slavery in Texas was announced on that day in 1865.
“Folks, I don’t only come here to commemorate the past, I come here because we know the good Lord is not done with us yet,” Biden said. “We got work to do.”
Reedy holds a Juneteenth celebration each year, where people pack the church to learn about the history behind the holiday.
“We have the Buffalo Soldiers come and they participate and read the proclamation, and we ring the bell. We say, ‘Freedom. Freedom.’ And then on our way back, we sing the songs that our ancestors sang on that way. ‘Oh freedom, oh freedom,’ you know? And so, I can’t really describe it because it’s a feeling. It’s, as the young people would say, it’s a ‘vibe’ on that day,” Reedy Church Rev. Lernette Patterson said.
This was be Biden’s first visit to Galveston since signing the bill that made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.
The Associated Press and Seun Min Kim contributed to this report.
Looking for a meaningful way to commemorate Juneteenth? This Galveston exhibit takes you back to where it all began.
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