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54 GUIDE TO YELLOW SPR INGS | 2021– 2022 The following piece is adapted from two articles that appeared in the News in 2019 and 2021. JUNETEENTH IN YELLOW SPRINGS — A TRIBUTE TO EMANCIPATION By LAUREN ‘CHUCK’ SHOWS O n June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army stood on a balcony in Galves- ton, Texas. He shouted down to the enslaved people of the city the news that had been On a rainy Saturday, June 19, 2021, about 100 attendees filled the floor and bleachers of the Bryan Center gym to celebrate June - teenth. Two days prior, president Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, designating the new federal holiday — the first since 1983, when president Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law. The village preceded the nation on that front, with Council passing a resolution to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday in January of 2021. Above, drummers Basim Blunt, Cyprian Sajabi and Gyamfi Gyam - erah held a steady beat. | PHOTO BY RE I LLY DIXON kept from them in the two years since the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed and the two months since the Civil War had ended — that they were no longer enslaved. In the years that followed that announcement, June 19, or Juneteenth, was observed as a day to celebrate the eman- cipation of enslaved Black Americans, initially only in Texas, and eventually all over the nation. Celebrating Juneteenth is not new to Yellow Springs — the now-defunct African American Cross-Cultural Works held a series of events JUNETEENTH 254 Xenia ave. • 937-767-7451 www. Y ellow S pringS H ardware.com Locally Owned & Independent Continuing 90+ Years of Village Hardware Tradition ASK US ABOUT PLACING SPECIAL ORDERS • Hardware & Building Supplies • plumbing & electrical Supplies • Hand Tools • paint & Stain • lawn & garden care • Bird Seed & Feeders UPS Drop-off & Fax Service