FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (04/29/11)

Contact: Deborah A. Evans

Nevada Director, National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)

National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign

e-mail: MystFaith1@aol.com

702-878-5277             

The hard work of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)  and our Nevada Juneteenth Holiday Campaign, has paid off!  AB174, recognizing Juneteenth Independence Day  in the state of Nevada passed the Senate today, April 29, 2011 and is on its way to  Governor Brian Sandoval for signature. “We want to thank Assemblymen Harvey J. Munford, Joseph M. Hogan and Dina Neal, for their support and presentation of the bill for consideration”, said NJOF Nevada State Director Deborah Evans.

Nevada is number 38, joining  Georgia. Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Delaware, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, California, Wyoming, Illinois, Missouri, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, Washington State, Tennessee, Massachusetts, North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Vermont, Nebraska, Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Mississippi and the District of Columbia in recognizing the end of enslavement in America.

"The official recognition of Juneteenth Independence Day and the end of enslavement by state governments and the U.S. Congress are very significant steps in bringing healing to America from the legacy of enslavement," states Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M. D.,  Founder & Chairman of the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign, the National Day Reconciliation & Healing From the Legacy of Enslavement and the annual Washington Juneteenth National Holiday Observance.

Juneteenth commemorates the day when slaves in the last geographic area in America, where slavery existed, learned of their freedom. This took place on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, when Union General Gordon Granger read General Order #3, announcing that "all slaves are free" by Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln.

This was eight months after Nevada achieved statehood in October 1864, four months after the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by the Nevada legislature in February 1865, two months after the death of President Lincoln and the surrender at Appomattox, ending the Civil war in April 1865.

For information on the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign,  the Washington  Juneteenth National Holiday Observance and Juneteenth Celebrations  in Nevada, contact Dee Evans at 702-878-5277 or e-mail: MystFaith1@aol.com  or visit our websites:   http://humpdyddicyti.net/NJOF_LV.aspx ,  www.Juneteenth.us

and www.NationalJuneteenth.com

Nevada Assembly Bill  174

By: Assemblymen Munford, Hogan and Neal

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1.  Chapter 236 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:

The Governor shall annually proclaim June 19 to be “Juneteenth Day” in the State of Nevada to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the United States.

The proclamation must call upon the news media, educators and appropriate governmental officers to bring to the attention of Nevada’s residents the historical significance of the day when the last slaves in the United States were emancipated and the significant contributions of African-Americans to the State.