HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2506-4801CITY OF PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Council Chambers & Hybrid
5:30 PM
Agenda Item
1.Proclamation Honoring Juneteenth At Places Memo Added
City Council
Staff Report
Report Type: SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY
Lead Department: City Clerk
Meeting Date: June 17, 2025
Report #:2506-4801
TITLE
Proclamation Honoring Juneteenth
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Proclamation Honoring Juneteenth
APPROVED BY:
Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk
Proclamation
JUNETEENTH
WHEREAS, June 19th is observed as Juneteenth, a nationally recognized day that celebrates the culture,
heritage and perseverance of Black and African American people;
WHEREAS, Juneteenth commemorates the country’s second independence day. On June 19, 1865, Union
Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that the state’s 25,000 enslaved people
were freed by executive decree, marking the effective end to slavery in the United States; and
WHEREAS, this was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s issued the Emancipation
Proclamation on January 1, 1863; and
WHEREAS, Constitutional amendments passed between 1865 and 1870 profoundly changed the legal status
of those once enslaved. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment conferred
citizenship upon those once enslaved and guarantees equal protection under the law, and the Fifteenth Amendment
enfranchised men once held in bondage; and
WHEREAS, today, Juneteenth celebrates Black and African American people’s freedom and achievements,
and encourages everyone to reflect, learn about, and honor the rich diversity of our nation and the ongoing
movement towards equity and belonging; and
WHEREAS, communities across the Bay Area will be hosting cultural events including food and vendor
festivals, music and dance performances, and parades.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ed Lauing, Mayor of the City of Palo Alto on behalf of the entire City Council, do
hereby proclaim and celebrate June 19th as Juneteenth, and call upon our community to reaffirm our commitment
to eradicating hate, racism, and inequity and continuing the work of justice and hope.
PRESENTED: June 17, 2025
__________________________
Ed Lauing
Mayor
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City Council
Supplemental Report
From: Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk
Meeting Date: June 17, 2025
Item Number: 1
Report #:2506-4874
TITLE
Proclamation Honoring Juneteenth
BACKGROUND
Staff is re-issuing the proclamation with revised language.
ATTACHMENTS
At Places Memo Attachment A: Revised Proclamation Honoring Juneteenth
APPROVED BY:
Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk
Proclamation
JUNETEENTH
WHEREAS, the brutal scheme known as chattel slavery (where people were legally considered personal property) was
practiced on the land that became the United States from 1619 until 1865, a 250-year period in which millions of Africans
were packed into boats inhumanely, made to endure the ruthless Middle Passage, and forced to work under brutal conditions
in the fields of the American South in order to grow the American economy; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that 80-90% of African Americans alive today have ancestors who endured these forms of
barbarism and yet these ancestors rebelled and persevered throughout this 250-year period, and despite their suffering, found
strength, connection, and joy through faith, family, culture, and self-actualization; and
WHEREAS, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued an executive order, known as the Emancipation
Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863 freeing all enslaved persons, yet the Confederacy did not regard Lincoln as their
President and so did not heed this order; and
WHEREAS, Congress abolished slavery with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in January 1865, and the Civil
War ended in April 1865, yet some enslaved persons remained in bondage; and
WHEREAS, weeks after the Civil War ended, on June 19th, 1865, enslaved people in Texas learned of Union Army
Major General Gordon Granger’s General Order Number 3 which read: “The people of Texas are informed that, in
accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” and as such are regarded as the
last enslaved people to be freed in the U.S., yet the African-American community would continue to fight for full equality
from that point to the present day; and
WHEREAS, June 19th is now officially observed as Juneteenth, which is a nationally-recognized day that celebrates the
liberation, perseverance, heritage, and achievements of African American people in the United States.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ed Lauing, Mayor of the City of Palo Alto on behalf of the entire City Council, do hereby
proclaim and celebrate June 19th as Juneteenth, and call upon our community to reaffirm our commitment to celebrating the
dignity, worth, and contributions of African Americans, to eradicating hate, racism, and inequity in all its forms, and to an
unyielding commitment to the work of justice and hope.
PRESENTED: June 17, 2025
__________________________
Ed Lauing
Mayor