Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the freedom of the last slave on June 19, 1985. This was two whole years after the 16th president Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1983 to free all slaves after the civil war.
Nowadays, African Americans celebrate by coming together to share in hope with picnics, parades, music, crafts, speeches, and dances.
Here are a few questions to think about:
What do you think people did after finding out they were free?
Why do people hold celebrations?
What moments do you think are worth celebrating?
Why is celebrating Juneteenth more important now than ever?
To create the paper dolls on the right handout, follow these steps:
1. Cut along the outside rectangle.
2. Fold along the dotted lines as shown in the example.
3. Keeping the boxes folded, cut along the shape of the person.
4. Unfold and decorate. Draw the shapes as friends and family you would celebrate with.