COLUMBUS, Ohio — Junteenth will become a paid holiday for city of Columbus employees starting in 2022, Mayor Andrew Ginther announced in a press release Thursday.
“Over the past year, we have all been reminded of the unrelenting power and promise of a free, inclusive society,” Ginther said. “I encourage everyone, no matter your background, to learn from the lessons of our past, consider the vital work that still lies ahead and move forward, together, with renewed optimism and determination in pursuit of a more equitable, honest and accountable society.”
This year, city employees will be granted an additional paid day off in honor of Juneteenth, and then next year, June 19 will be observed as a paid holiday.
City Hall will also be lit up in black, red and green, which are the colors of the Pan-African flag, between June 18-20.
“Junteenth is celebrated annually on June 19 and marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, to assume control of the state and announce the freedom of all enslaved people two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. It represents liberty, hope and resiliency as what is widely considered to be the oldest African American holiday in the United States,” Ginther said.
Ginther signed a proclamation a year ago declaring June 19 as Juneteenth in the city, enouraging all residents to observe the day.
The announcement follows a national move to make June 19 a paid holiday. The House voted 415-14 Wednesday to make it the 12th federal holiday. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk, and he is expected to sign it into law.
It would be the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
