(Annapolis, MD) WNAV — Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman will sign a new law into effect Wednesday afternoon. It proclaims June 19, as an annual holiday, Juneteenth. The county council approved Bill 9-22 to observe the Juneteenth holiday every year as a county employee holiday.
The signing ceremony today is being held at “The Peoples” Park” on Calvert Street in Annapolis.
The county executive will be joined by community leaders: County Council Chair Lisa Rodvien, Phyllis “Tee” Adams, from the Annapolis Juneteenth Planning Committee and the county’s Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Pete Hill, along with county employee, Kay Hoffman.
Juneteenth is also referred to as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day in Texas and Freedom Day, or Black Independence Day.
The day commemorates June 19, 1866 when African American slaves in Texas found out they were free.
President Joe Biden had signed a bill to mark Juneteenth as a national holiday for federal government employees on June 17, 2021.
