Hollywood Celebs Call for Juneteenth to Be a National Holiday

Jerod Harris/Getty Images/Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Jerod Harris/Getty Images/Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Warner Todd Huston

A horde of Hollywood celebrities jumped to their social media accounts on Friday to call for Juneteenth to be recognized as into a national holiday.

Juneteenth, named for June 19, 1865, is the day that the final former Confederate state, Texas, officially read the Emancipation Proclamation into the state’s official record. The date was adopted by freed slaves as “Juneteenth,” and celebrated as the first day of their newfound freedom.

On the tail of weeks of Black Lives Matter protests, some focus has come to the Juneteenth holiday and now many in Hollywood are throwing their weight behind the push to made the day a national holiday. Celebs including actress Lupita Nyong’o, George Takei, Jason Alexander, Chris Evans, Taylor Swift, and others have jumped to social media to join the movement.

Pop star Taylor Swift created a video and worked with black-centric website TheRoot to advocate a plan to make the day a national holiday:

Swift also announced that from now on she will give her employees June 19 off.

Actress Lupita Nyong’o also pushed the holiday by retweeting the story of Opal Lee, who is leading a national effort to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Pop star Katy Perry said “#Juneteenth is a day to celebrate freedom, culture, and the progress achieved through activism and voting. I’m working with @WhenWeAllVote to continue the efforts of past generations who fought for Black lives, Black voices, and Black votes.”

Star Wars Mark Hamill called for recognition for the day:

Avengers star Mark Ruffalo tweeted out a petition to make the day a national holiday.

Activist actress Alyssa Milano joined an effort to push the Juneteenth message from left-wing group color of change:

Actor Jason Alexander said “there is no me without” the black people who cared for him and his family.

Avengers star Chris Evans cheered Congress’ move to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Disney movie director Ava DuVernay said “I proudly join with my fellow artists in this call-to-action on the occasion of @OurJuneteenth.”

Others Hollywood figures joined the effort to make the day a national holiday.

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