The United States (US) Embassy in Nairobi announced Sunday, June 18 that its offices in Gigiri will be closed on Monday June 19, 2023.
In a statement, the Embassy said that, the closure will affect Kenyan as well as Somali citizens who rely on the facility for its foreign services.
“The Embassy will remain closed to commemorate Juneteenth,” a statement from the foreign mission on social media read.
US President Joe Biden had previously directed that Juneteenth becomes a federal holiday in the United States and its missions abroad.
Juneteenth is an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War and has been celebrated by African Americans since the late 1800s.
President Biden signed legislation in 2021 that made Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, a federal holiday, after interest in the day was renewed during the summer of 2020 and the nationwide protests that followed the police killings of Black Americans including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
At the time, he announced that the US had decided to choose love over hate, unity over disunion and progress over retreat.
“Juneteenth as a federal holiday is meant to breathe new life into the very essence of America. To make sure all Americans feel the power of this day and the progress we can make for our country,” Biden announced.
On June 19, 1865, about two months after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended.
General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued nearly two and a half years earlier, on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln.
The holiday is also called “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.” Early celebrations involved prayer and family gatherings, and later included annual pilgrimages to Galveston by former enslaved people and their families, according to Juneteenth.com.
In 1872, a group of African American ministers and businessmen in Houston purchased 10 acres of land and created Emancipation Park which was intended to hold the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration.
Today, while some celebrations take place among families in backyards where food is an integral element, some cities, like Atlanta and Washington, hold larger events, including parades and festivals with residents, local businesses and more.
Juneteenth is part of the US’s 12 federal holidays which also include; New Year’s Day, the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, Inauguration Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
