{"id":1281,"date":"2026-06-19T21:12:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2026-06-19T21:12:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:12:58","slug":"as-juneteenth-is-celebrated-across-the-u-s-obamas-presidential-center-opens-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1281","title":{"rendered":"As Juneteenth is celebrated across the U.S., Obama\u2019s presidential center opens in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As people gathered across the U.S. to celebrate Juneteenth on Friday, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama welcomed the first visitors to his presidential center.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1279\">Kahleah Copper is \u2018just a kid from Norf Philly.\u2019 Now, it\u2019s immortalized on her shoes.<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Obamas, joined by former <i>Reading Rainbow<\/i> host LeVar Burton, also read <i>Where the Wild Things Are<\/i> to 25 school children at the Chicago Public Library branch inside the center. When the former president read Maurice Sendak\u2019s line about being \u201cking of all the wild things,\u201d Michelle Obama interjected with, \u201cAlthough there were no kings,\u201d to applause.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Later, awed guests shook hands with the Obamas against the backdrop of a colorful, 38-foot-tall painting depicting a map of Chicago stretching to the ceiling, inspired by Carl Sandburg\u2019s 1914 poem about the city: \u201cstormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>As the last of the first group of guests passed through, the Obamas quickly exited, and the museum opened its doors to the rest of the visitors.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Located on a sprawling campus on Chicago\u2019s South Side, the center honoring the nation\u2019s first Black president has been designed to inspire people to make the change they want to see in their own communities. It\u2019s the kind of contemplation that also comes as Americans gathered for Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The holiday marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, at the end of the Civil War with an order declaring the state\u2019s enslaved people to be free with \u201cabsolute equality.\u201d By then, 2\u00bd years had passed since the Emancipation Proclamation declared the freedom of enslaved people in the South.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cJuneteenth represents not just a commemoration of the end of slavery but it\u2019s also part of the ongoing struggle for absolute equality and that ideal in American life,\u201d said W. Caleb McDaniel, a Rice University professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book <i>Sweet Taste of Liberty<\/i>.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The center\u2019s public opening arrives as a symbolic convergence of legacy and liberation. The nation is deeply divided politically and grappling with renewed questions about the arc of racial progress as the Supreme Court hollowed out the Voting Rights Act, endangering Black political representation in Congress.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h2>The history of Juneteenth<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>This is the fifth year since Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday by former President Joe Biden, who served as Obama\u2019s vice president. But the celebrations, which began in Texas and then spread across the country, have a rich and long history in Black America, with the day often spent gathering for picnics and cookouts.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The holiday \u2014 a combination of \u201cJune\u201d and \u201cnineteenth\u201d \u2014 marks the day when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in the Texas port city with the declaration of freedom in General Order No. 3.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>As the third year of the Civil War neared, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the freedom of \u201call persons held as slaves\u201d in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. For many, it did not mean immediate freedom but a promise of liberation, to be secured with a Union victory.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1277\">U.S. intelligence warns Israel is likely to undermine Iran peace deal, officials say<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt really required the force of arms and the success of U.S. armies to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation,\u201d McDaniel said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>About six months after Granger\u2019s arrival in Galveston, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationwide was ratified.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h2>Celebrations across the nation this year<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Juneteenth\u2019s birthplace celebrated with a daylong gathering at a Galveston park with music and fireworks, a parade, and a worship service in a historic Black church. Nearby Houston lined up musical artists and a domino tournament at Emancipation Park, established in 1872 by a group of formerly enslaved men.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Hundreds of other cities across the U.S. announced events over the long weekend, including a parade in Atlanta, a bike ride in Los Angeles, and a festival on Martha\u2019s Vineyard.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Several cities across the U.S. hosted walks named for Opal Lee, the Texas woman who pushed for years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Participants walk 2\u00bd miles to symbolize the 2\u00bd years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced in Texas. Lee, known as the \u201cgrandmother of Juneteenth,\u201d turns 100 this year.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h2>Reflecting on a continuing struggle<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Black Texans embraced the date of Granger\u2019s arrival as one to celebrate, even as the Ku Klux Klan was established in Texas by 1868. By the 1880s, \u201cit was difficult to find a significant community in Texas where it wasn\u2019t being marked by African Americans,\u201d McDaniel said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThey made it a community celebration, they made it a celebration of not only freedom but also a demonstration of community empowerment and institution-building,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Corey D.B. Walker, dean of Wake Forest University\u2019s divinity school, said the holiday offers a way to recognize the nation\u2019s \u201ccomplex history\u201d and what it means to be a U.S. citizen, especially amid efforts by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to undermine the retelling of Black history.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think it really reminds people the importance of understanding a fuller, more robust portrait of our nation\u2019s history and the many contributions of many individuals who have contributed to America\u2019s experiment with democracy,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1275\">Two Deptford High School students created a Jalyx Hunt fan account. Then he showed up at their graduation.<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama welcomed the first visitors to his presidential center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation-world","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As Juneteenth is celebrated across the U.S., Obama\u2019s presidential center opens in Chicago - Corporate Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1281\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Juneteenth is celebrated across the U.S., Obama\u2019s presidential center opens in Chicago - 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