This week marked the 154th Anniversary of Juneteenth in America, and OK Sen. James Lankford said it's important for the nation to remember it. Juneteenth refers to the date slavery was abolished in the southern states.
Sen. Lankford acknowledged the anniversary on the Senate Floor where he said the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln January 1st of 1863, but that it took two years for multiple areas of the south to know about the liberation of the slaves.
Due to communication barriers, it took a year longer for the word to reach Oklahoma, on June 14th, 1866. June 19th is the date it was officially recognized, so it's that day every year we call "Juneteenth" or Emancipation Day.
