Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865 it was announce that the Civil War ended, and the slaves had been freed.... but as we  know that's not the end of the story! Many African Americans lived in desperate rural poverty across the South in the decades following the Civil War. Although slavery was over, the brutalities of white race prejudice persisted. But here is the kicker! State governments across the South instituted laws known as Black Codes. The Codes made it illegal for blacks to serve on juries, testify against whites, or serve in state militias, and it also created a new cute form of slavery called sharecropping. Fast forward a little through time black people have also endured segregation, voter suppression, housing descrimination, police brutatility, student loan debt, and mass incarceration. Because of this some may say we are "Free-ish"