By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(Boston, MA) Massachusetts House and Senate leaders have filed a bill to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Senator Jo Comerford along with Representative Bud L. Williams, State Representative Mindy Domb, as well as Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Senator Brendan Crighton introduced the bill. Juneteenth marks the June 19 anniversary of the day Black Americans in Texas received word that they were free.
“Since that time, each year on this date, people have come together in states across the nation to celebrate freedom, emancipation, and to call for transformative racial justice,” said Comerford in a social media post.
Hopes are that the holiday will be a catalyst for sustained focus on dismantling systemic racism leftover from slavery.
“Passage of this bill will help ensure the Commonwealth’s necessary and sustained focus on the legacy of enslavement and our collective work for racial justice and equity,” said Comerford.