Join End Slavery Colorado, Together Colorado, Working Families Party and ACLU this Juneteenth, a time traditionally reserved to celebrate freedom from slavery, for a panel discussion between justice advocates, faith leaders, civil rights attorneys, labor organizers, and formerly incarcerated people about the ongoing legal battle against the last vestige of slavery in our state.

The discussion will be grounded in research from DU professor Michael Gibson-Light’s new book Orange Collar Labor.

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Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, mobilize.us.

Celebrate Juneteenth in Colorado Springs with a community gathering of local groups, food and music. Located at the America the Beautiful Park with events starting the afternoon of Friday the 16th and ending Monday June 19th.

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Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, csjuneteenthfestival.com.

This is the second year that Juneteenth is celebrated as a federal holiday. However, the Black community in Colorado has celebrated Juneteenth for a lot longer.

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863. However, it was not immediately applied across the country. It was more than two years later, on June 19, 1865, when the Union Army arrived in Texas to declare the emancipation of enslaved people. For descendants of formerly enslaved persons, Juneteenth is our Independence Day.

Juneteenth is our clarion call to people across our state. We believe that to achieve true social change, our goals and priorities must be approached through this lens — how does this advocacy, legislation or litigation move us forward to achieve long-term change, that dismantles racial and identity injustices? It is with this intentionality that the ACLU will achieve its North Star — "to make Colorado the most equitable state in our country."

Sign up to march alongside other activists and members of ACLU of Colorado on Saturday, June 17