Instagram / @lizzobeeating
It’s only Juneteenth’s second year as a national holiday, but it’s been official with Lizzo for much longer than that, and — like many other celebs — she’s going big to celebrate.
The singer says she’s been celebrating Juneteenth since her childhood in Houston, but for the third straight year she’s getting her fans in on the festivities with a huge giveaway that includes a chance for them to fly out and hang with her.
Lizzo also posted why the holiday is so important — “Juneteenth is about giving Black citizens of this country our own Declaration of Independence. It is about the complicated and nuanced history we have with this country”.
June 19, aka Juneteenth, marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in America — in Galveston, TX — got the word President Lincoln had abolished slavery two-and-a-half years earlier with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was finally recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.
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Mariah Carey marked the day with a photo of her twins, Morocco and Monroe, looking at photos of Mariah’s father. She captioned the Juneteenth/Father’s Day post with “Celebrate your black excellence.”
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There were many others … including Justin Bieber and Pharrell, who took a moment to share his own words after hitting the stage for Day 3 of the Something In the Water festival in Washington, D.C.
The Juneteenth Foundation’s Freedom Festival was also held in D.C.
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As the festival organizer said, Juneteenth is a time for all Americans to celebrate freedom.