By Linda Badger

The Golden Gate Park Band hosted a Juneteenth celebration last month at the Spreckels Temple of Music (the “Bandshell”), featuring “The Sistas,” a gospel/R&B trio from the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s Soulful Christmas Choir made up of vocalists Mary Williams, Robin Hodge-Williams and Dr. Yvonne Cobbs.

Cobbs said that music has always been a part of her family and community celebrations of Juneteenth.

“Standing at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, a place where people from all backgrounds gather, is a reminder that music has the power to bring people together and continue the message of hope and freedom,” she said.

The Sistas delivered soulful renditions of songs written by Black musicians, including “Respect,” by Aretha Franklin, “Golden,” by Jill Scott and “Stand Up,” by Cynthia Erivo.

“The music we selected tells the story of freedom, dignity, joy and the African American experience – the song list celebrates the journey from struggle to freedom, from survival to joy,” Cobbs said. “Juneteenth is about remembering the past while lifting our voices for the future.”

On June 19, 1865 – now known as “Juneteenth” – two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation and more than two months after Robert E. Lee had surrendered in Appomattox, U.S. Army soldiers marched into the Confederate State of Texas to liberate 250,000 enslaved people. Many Texans knew about the Proclamation from news reports and word of mouth, but many wealthy Texans with cotton plantations and political clout fought hard to keep exploiting slave labor for as long as possible. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was not enforced in Texas until that day in 1865, when Major General Gordon Grange arrived in Galveston with thousands of occupying troops charged with ending slavery.

On June 19, Major General Grange issued General Order #3, stating: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, ‘all slaves are free.’ This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

This unbounded promise of freedom for “all slaves” and “absolute equality” has inspired annual Juneteenth celebrations in Texas for more than 160 years. The first documented Juneteenth or “Emancipation Day,” celebration took place in 1866, and was organized by two Black ministers who led a parade of 3,000 to 4,000 freed people through the streets of Houston, Texas, followed by speeches, music, picnics and church services.

The expansive wording in the first two sentences of General Order #3 was likely penned by a young staff officer, F. W. Emery, responsible for signing and distributing the order in Texas. Emery had been the editor of an abolitionist newspaper in Kansas and had fought alongside John Brown, Jr., liberating slaves in Kansas and Missouri. Interestingly, the first printing of General Order #3 had quotation marks around the words, “all slaves are free,” making it appear that the words were taken directly from the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The actual Proclamation, however, does not contain these words.

In contrast to the expansive wording drafted by Emery, the last two sentences of General Order #3, copied from prior military orders, described a far more qualified liberation and foreshadowed the discrimination and hardships Black Americans would face in exercising their newfound freedom: “The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

Seeking freedom from slavery, thousands of Black Americans, utterly destitute, fled to Union Army posts for protection, support and jobs. Unable or unwilling to support them all, and pressured by local slave-owners, Union Army Generals issued many orders exhorting the freed slaves to stay put and continue to work for their former masters at a wage to be determined.

Nevertheless, after June 19, 1865, many newly freed people hearing the promise of “absolute equality,” traveled throughout the United States in search of economic opportunity. They took with them the tradition of celebrating Juneteenth.

Although Juneteenth represents the end of slavery in the Confederate states, it was not the end of slavery in the United States. Lincoln believed that the abolition of slavery nationwide required an act of Congress. To get around this problem, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation as an Executive Order based on his war powers, arguing that abolishing slavery would weaken the rebelling states by depriving them of slave labor. The Proclamation, therefore, only applied to states in active rebellion. States that had not seceded from the Union, despite being slave states, were not covered by the Proclamation. Consequently, thousands of Black people in states such as Delaware and Kentucky remained enslaved until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865, making slavery in all states illegal.

Even after the 13th Amendment, some slavery in America persisted. Prior to the Civil War, Native Americans in the Five Nation Tribes (the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee [Creek] and Seminole Nations), had adopted the practice of enslaving Black people. These tribes were not subject to the laws of the United States until the Treaties of 1866 when they agreed to abolish slavery, and to grant formerly enslaved people tribal citizenship, including land rights.

Although June 19, 1865, was not the end of all slavery in America, it is the day Americans traditionally celebrate its abolition – a day when hundreds of thousands of Black Texans received the joyous news that they were finally free.

Texas first established Juneteenth as an official State holiday in 1980. Many other states followed suit, including California. It wasn’t until 2021, a year after the murder of George Floyd, that President Joe Biden made Juneteenth an official federal holiday.

By contrast, on Juneteenth 2025, President Donald Trump bemoaned the number of “non-working holidays” in a Truth Social post, did not issue the customary Proclamation honoring the holiday, and his press secretary made it clear that the White House viewed it as a normal workday. Later that year, he declared that national parks would no longer be open to visitors free of charge on Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Juneteenth. He announced that national parks would instead be free on June 14, Flag Day, which also happened to be his birthday. This year, the White House did nothing to commemorate the holiday.

This was not the case in San Francisco where numerous events were held citywide to mark the day as one of celebration and reflection.

“Recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday is important because it acknowledges a part of American history that went untold for far too long,” Cobbs said. “It gives everyone an opportunity to learn, reflect and celebrate the contributions, culture, creativity and achievements of African Americans. Juneteenth is not only Black history – it is American history. It reminds us that justice, equality, and unity require awareness and continued commitment.”

On Juneteenth 2021, the words, “Lift Every Voice,” were added above the Bandshell’s stage in Golden Gate Park. These words refer to the title of the song widely regarded as the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written in 1900 by civil rights advocate James Weldon Johnson.

In last month’s Golden Gate Band tribute to Juneteenth, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was the first song performed by the Sistas. The lyrics remind many of the importance of Juneteenth, to celebrate the end of slavery in America and to reflect on how far we have come, and how far we need to go, to fulfill the promise of “absolute equality” made to Black Americans on that day. Trump’s actions surrounding Juneteenth are a warning to many that progress can be ephemeral.

“Lift ev’ry voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise, high as the list’ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.”

To find out more about the Golden Gate Band’s Summer 2026 Season of free Bandshell concerts spotlighting global/cultural traditions, visit goldengateparkband.org/calendar. To learn more about San Francisco’s Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and the Soulful Christmas Choir, visit lhtsf.org.