Tuesday, August 8, marks a second date that hold great significance to Black communities, which observe a regional emancipation holiday.
JuJuana Greene with the Black Rural Hamlet Project says she’s from a region that of the commonwealth where the news arrived later — and so do the commemorations.
"I'm from West Kentucky. We did not find that we were free until August 8, so if you ever go down to West Kentucky and you hear people saying I'm celebrating August 8, that's our June 19th," she explained.
Black communities in Kentucky and neighboring Tennessee have been turning out for the August holiday for over 150 years, marking their freedom from slavery with homecomings, food, celebrations, and historical remembrances.
In addition to August 8 and June 19, others celebrate January 1, the day President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in 1863.
