Batavia's Just Kings Social Club hosted their third annual Juneteenth Celebration in Austin Park on Saturday.
Juneteenth commemorates the day -- June 19, 1865 -- that Federal troops forced the traitors in Texas to free the last of their still captive slaves, ending slavery as practiced in the United States up to that time. President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in the still rebellious, traitorous states with the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. Slavery would become unconstitutional with the passage of the 13th Amendment in December 1865, fulfilling the promise of the Declaration of Independence that all people are created equal with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The first Juneteenth celebration by Black Americans was held on June 1, 1866. It became a state in 2020 and a federal holiday in 2021.
Since Juneteenth this year falls on a Sunday and Father's Day, Just Kings held their celebration on Saturday.
