<\/p>\n
At Cortez Veterans Park Friday, about 40 people attended the Juneteenth holiday event that honors the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865.<\/p>\n
The commemoration is widely celebrated across the country and is also known as Black Independence Day and Emancipation Day.<\/p>\n
The peaceful Cortez event emphasized freedom and equal rights for all people, and included the movements of Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Rights Matter, and LGBT rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here to show our pride in the community, that we are all together, that we all matter,\u201d said organizer Silverton House-Whitehorse. \u201cWe need to be strong together, rise together or we will fall together.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1865, there was dancing in the streets celebrating the freedom that most people take for granted, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time to make it a federal holiday,\u201d House-Whitehorse said.<\/p>\n
Speeches called for compassion, racial equality and respect toward each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen to each other, and not just hear one side of the story,\u201d said Zoey Culpepper.<\/p>\n
Accepting cultural and racial differences makes society stronger, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a member of Gen Z, I can promise you change will be made. No longer will people look at someone based on the color of their skin, we notice their personality and their heart,\u201d Culpepper said.<\/p>\n
One woman spoke of a recent DNA test that showed her cultural diversity, including Cuban, English, Spanish, African and Native American.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tell you how connected we all are, despite what people think our differences are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good you show your love for us Natives,\u201d said Jeremy, of the Ute Mountain Tribe, to applause.<\/p>\n
Juneteenth is a \u201cheavy day, a heavy history. African-Americans are still fighting for their rights,\u201d said one woman.<\/p>\n
The momentum for equal rights and stopping racism needs to stay strong, House-Whitehorse said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLets leave the children a better world. Each life is important, have faith and hope, and vote. Our light cannot be diminished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 1863, the Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that abolished slavery, but it was not until after the Civil War in 1865 that all slaves were freed.<\/p>\n
June 19, 1865 is the date Union soldiers arrived at Galveston, Texas and announced that the war was over and the enslaved were free.<\/p>\n
Juneteenth is recognized as a holiday in 47 states, including by Colorado in 2004. This year is its 155th anniversary, and there is an effort to make it a federal holiday.<\/p>\n
In June, 2019, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution that designated June 19, 2019 as \u201cJuneteenth Independence Day\u201d to commemorate the end of slavery, but it has not been approved by the House.<\/p>\n
Durango held its first Juneteenth celebration in 2017.<\/p>\n