A Juneteenth Flag is flying over the state capital.
Juneteenth is this Friday and recognizes the freeing of the last enslaved people in the United States in 1865.
Governor Tony Evers signed an executive order to raise a Juneteenth Flag at the Wisconsin Capitol for the seventh year in a row.
“Juneteenth is a reminder that, even in our darkest hours, the human spirit cannot be silenced, and freedom will always triumph, and today, that truth remains as important as ever,” said Gov. Evers. “Especially at a time when there are those who would rather rewrite history than learn from it and try to sow division and hate, we must remember that there is more that unites us than divides us and that our diversity is our strength—it always has been.”
The Juneteenth Flag will temporarily replace the Progress Pride Flag at the Capitol in Madison until sunset on Sunday, June 21st.
On June 19, 1865, more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to declare the end of slavery, freeing the 250,000 people who continued to be enslaved there.
The Juneteenth Flag features a star to represent Texas, the Lone Star State; a nova, or new star, representing a new beginning and the freedom of African Americans; the curve on the flag dividing the red and blue colors representing a “new horizon” and a future of “opportunities and promise” for Black Americans; and red, white, and blue colors, reminding us that people who were enslaved and their descendants shall be “forever free.”
