Juneteenth is a beautiful example of a modern ritual that is reinvented and celebrated in a new and exciting way every year. Luisah Teish says this occasion celebrates “the flame as political power and divine inspiration.” Juneteenth is held on June 19, the date when in 1865 the news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the plantations in the states of Louisiana and Texas. While the actual law had gone into effect two years earlier in 1863, nobody told many of the slaves. When these duped slaves finally realized that they were free, it was a cause of great joy. Nowadays, there are festivals that celebrate the contributions by Africans to America and the world. Picnics, barbecues, singing, dancing, theater, games, and parades take place within the communities of the United States.
