As part of an inaugural commemoration of Juneteenth, the National Council of Teachers of English and Penguin Random House Education partnered to support celebrations held by The Black Caucus of NCTE, a leading advocacy group of Black English language arts educators and scholars, who played a pivotal role in the celebrations. Penguin Random House Education

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the freedom of the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas. The newly freed Black Americans observed Juneteenth as a celebration of freedom and