SCENE + HEARD: Daily Post Learning About Juneteenth By Staff Wednesday, June 17, 2020 1:30 PM Yesterday, New York State governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order making Juneteenth an official holiday for state employees. Other countries and states are also following suit. But what is Juneteenth (which falls this Friday, June 19), and why is it important for us to recognize and celebrate? In short, it marks the day that the last groups of enslaved people in the U.S. were informed of their freedom, two years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Head over to Vox to learn more about Juneteenth through an interview with Karlos Hill, a professor of African and African-American studies at the University of Oklahoma and the author of Beyond the Rope: The Impact of Lynching on Black Culture and Memory.