News 12 Staff

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Jun 15, 2024, 5:41 PM

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Updated

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Yonkers got a head start on the celebration Saturday at the annual Juneteenth Parade and Festival.

The holiday marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.

For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical performances or cookouts.

The U.S. government was slow to embrace the occasion — it was only in 2021 that President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday.

News 12’s Carol Wilkinson was in Yonkers with all the sights and sounds from the day.