Juneteenth

This is the first time the event is being held since Juneteenth was designated a federal holiday.

June 19, 1865, marked a huge turning point for Black people in America. But many slave owners refused to comply. And even celebrating the date was discouraged in the years to come.

Companies are responding to a social movement fueled by the killing of George Floyd, a 47-year-old Black man who died in Minneapolis while in police custody.

Rallies are happening from Atlanta to Los Angeles — including in Galveston, Texas, where the holiday was born. Amid a reckoning around race, this year's Juneteenth has an even more urgent meaning.

Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States. Now, New York City will officially observe Juneteenth as an official city and school holiday starting next year.

In the wake of protests calling for racial equality and other reforms after the killing of George Floyd, there's a growing movement to make June 19 a federal holiday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has directed the clerk of the House to remove the portraits of four former House speakers who served in the Confederacy.