SF 2652

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

1.1      A resolution
1.2      memorializing the President of the United States to proclaim Juneteenth a national 
1.3      holiday.
1.4      WHEREAS, Twin Cities Juneteenth, Inc., is a local organization established in 1985 to 
1.5      commemorate African American freedom from the bondage of slavery following the end of the 
1.6      Civil War; and  
1.7      WHEREAS, Juneteenth celebrates Gordon Granger's announcement of freedom for all 
1.8      slaves in Galveston, Texas, the last outpost of slavery in the United States; and  
1.9      WHEREAS, the Juneteenth festival is held locally in the most beautiful park in the Twin 
1.10     Cities region, Theodore Wirth Park on the border of Minneapolis and Golden Valley, on the 
1.11     Saturday closest to June seventeenth; and  
1.12     WHEREAS, Twin Cities Juneteenth, Inc., and many other leaders and organizations have 
1.13     joined in a nationwide campaign to establish Juneteenth as a national holiday in America; NOW, 
1.14     THEREFORE,  
1.15     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President 
1.16     of the United States to proclaim Juneteenth a national holiday in the United States of America.  
1.17     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the  State of Minnesota is 
1.18     directed to prepare copies of this  memorial and transmit them to the President of  the United States, 
1.19     the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United 
1.20     States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and  Representatives in Congress.