庆祝六月节

The crew aboard the International Space Station captured this image of Galveston, Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth, as the station orbited 224 miles above on Nov. 23, 2011.

In the early 1800s, slavers periodically used Galveston Island as an outpost for operations. By 1860, about one-third of Galveston’s population lived under the oppression of chattel slavery. Even after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, in the midst of America’s Civil War, change came slowly to Galveston. Most enslaved people were unaware of Lincoln’s executive order, and the practice of buying and selling Black people based on race continued in Galveston and other parts of Texas until well into 1865.

When Union troops arrived in April 1865, circumstances changed. U.S. Major General Gordon Granger then issued General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865, and Union troops marched through Galveston and read the order aloud at several locations, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were free. As news of the order spread, spontaneous celebrations broke out in African American churches, homes, and other gathering places. As years passed, the picnics, barbecues, parades, and other celebrations that sprang up to commemorate June 19th became more formalized as freed men and women purchased land, or “emancipation grounds,” to hold annual Juneteenth celebrations.

Image Credit: NASA

2011年11月23日，国际空间站的工作人员在距地面224英里的轨道上拍摄了这张“六月节”诞生地德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿的照片。

在19世纪早期，奴隶贩子定期将加尔维斯顿岛作为他们的前哨基地。到1860年，加尔维斯顿大约三分之一的人口生活在动产奴隶制的压迫下。即使在亚伯拉罕·林肯总统于1863年在美国内战期间发布了《解放奴隶宣言》之后，加尔维斯顿的变化也来得很慢。大多数被奴役的人都不知道林肯的行政命令，在加尔维斯顿和德克萨斯州的其他地区，基于种族买卖黑人的做法一直持续到1865年。

当联邦军队于1865年4月抵达时，情况发生了变化。随后，美国少将戈登·格兰杰于1865年6月19日发布了第3号总令，联邦军队穿过加尔维斯顿，在几个地方大声宣读了这一命令，通知德克萨斯州的人民，所有被奴役的人都是自由的。随着命令的消息传开，非裔美国人的教堂、家庭和其他聚会场所自发举行了庆祝活动。随着时间的流逝，野餐、烧烤、游行和其他纪念6月19日的庆祝活动变得更加正式，因为获得自由的男女购买了土地，或称为“解放地”，以举行一年一度的六月节庆祝活动。

影像来源: NASA