President Biden signed into law earlier this week proclaiming Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday, the first new holiday added since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Juneteenth recognizes the day of June 19th, 1865 when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger told the last slaves held in the United States in Galveston Texas of their emancipation. Simpson College Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Keyah Levy tells KNIA News the day marks freedom for the African-American community, and is the culmination of years of hard work to get to this point.

“We are extremely elated now that there is legislation to make this a federal holiday. That is just a small token of appreciation for the work that we’ve done, but it also shows that we are headed in the right direction in terms of healing for our community.”

Levy will be featured on Monday’s In Depth with Dr. Bob Leonard.