Hollywood is honoring Juneteenth in a variety of ways.
After President Joe Biden made June 19—or Juneteenth, as it’s commonly referred to—a federal holiday in the United States, many stars are sharing what the day means to their families.
For Holly Robinson Peete, who marked the weekend by hosting HollyRod Foundation’s Design Care 2022 charity event, Juneteenth has been a celebration in her household for decades.
“We were raised on Juneteenth. I knew what Juneteenth was when I was a little girl. I knew about Galveston, Texas,” she exclusively told E! News. “My father, who inspired a lot of the HollyRod Foundation, was a Black scholar. He was a historian of Black culture and Black history. So I knew about Galveston so I’m happy to see all these years later, that Juneteenth is being celebrated…I’m glad to see the world catching up.”
Juneteenth commemorates the June 19, 1865 arrival of Gen. Gordon Granger and Union soldiers to Galveston, Texas where they announced to the remaining enslaved African-Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free. According to Holly, these milestones in American history should be talked about.