Xavier Bolerwas 17 years old when he first heard about Juneteenth. Since then, Boler has researched the holiday and started celebrating it with his neighbors, family and friends.

“We get together at a local park, have a barbeque, and celebrate it,” Boler said. 

The 23-year-old resident of Akron’s Firestone Park neighborhood recounts his first time hearing about Juneteenth as a junior at Canton McKinley High School. 

“During English class, we were talking about historical events for a project, and Juneteenth was brought up,” Boler said. 

Like most of his high school classmates, Boler didn’t know about Juneteenth but was curious to learn more.

“I learned more about it through research and found out about the significance of it,” Boler said. “It’s one of my favorite events.” 

Boler said he appreciates Juneteenth because it celebrates the abolishment of slavery and reminds him how far African Americans have come.

June 19, 1865, marks the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned of their emancipation and became “official” American citizens when Union troops arrived with General Orders, No. 3. These orders were delivered more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

While Juneteenth wasn’t recognized as a federal holiday until 2021, the celebrations have been going on since as early as 1866, the year after the Union army arrived in Galveston and told the more than 250,000 enslaved residents of the city that they were free.

Boler acknowledges that the United States still has a long way to go with race relations but likes that Juneteenth is recognized as a federal holiday. 

However, for workers at private employers, having the day off is up to their bosses’ discretion. 

As a Mission BBQ employee, Boler was offered the option of having Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

Boler believes that awareness of the holiday would increase if Juneteenth was incorporated into the history curriculum for students. 

“I think as much history as there is in America, we don’t talk about Black history enough,” Boler said. “Everyone needs to learn more about it.” 

Launched in December 2023, Signal Akron is the second newsroom in the Signal Ohio network of independent, community-led, nonprofit newsrooms. At Signal Akron, we produce authoritative, trustworthy daily journalism across a range of topics, including government, education, public safety, health, and the arts. We’re also home to Akron Documenters, a group of Akron residents who are trained and paid to cover public meetings.