EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The sign Nichele Brown is holding says it all. She's the president of the Greater Pocono section of the National Council of Negro Women.
"We celebrate Juneteenth because it's the end of hundreds of years of slavery for African-Americans."
June 19, 1865, was the day slaves were freed in Texas, the last Confederate state to do so. It was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
"People don't know of the holiday. Everyone needs to be celebrating this holiday because it's an American holiday. It is Independence Day. We know of the 4th of July. Juneteenth is also Independence Day for a whole race of people," Brown said.
That's why the East Stroudsburg University campus will be full of life on Sunday for the second annual Pocono Juneteenth Freedom Fest.
"Family fun—we'll have music, there will be food, there will be vendors, there's a bouncy house, food demonstrations. Anything you want, we got it right here. Come on down and join us," said Janell Henderson with the Greater Pocono section of the National Council of Negro Women.
Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday in 2021.
Organizers say a lot of people don't even realize why they have a day off on Monday.
"That's why we have this festival. History is important. Black history is American history. So, we need to share that with everyone. Sometimes reading it in a book or finding out verbally, but when you come to the celebration on Juneteenth, you see exactly why everyone is celebrating. You get a piece of that in your soul," said Dr. Marilyn Brown, also with the Greater Pocono section of the National Council of Negro Women.
"Yes, it's a day to have fun and to do all those things. But they say it's really a day on, not a day off. It's a day to do something special," Henderson said.
The festival is on Sunday at ESU from noon to 5 p.m. The theme of this year's event is "Freedom, Fathers, and Family" since it coincides with Father's Day.