HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2506-4874CITY 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
Item No. 1. Page 1 of 1
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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