Juneteenth, celebrated as the day when slavery in the U.S. ended, will now be officially commemorated in the U.S. — at least at tech giants Twitter and Square.
Both Twitter and Square are making #Juneteenth (June 19th) a company holiday in the US, forevermore. A day for celebration, education, and connection.https://t.co/xmR3fWMiRs
— jack (@jack) June 9, 2020
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the two companies — for both of which he serves as CEO and founder or co-founder — will mark June 19 as a “company holiday in the U.S., forevermore.”
In a follow-up, Dorsey also remarked that “we will do the work to make those dates company holidays everywhere we are present.”
Following the spread of Black Lives Matter protests across the country, companies all over have been releasing statements condemning racism and supporting the movement. But many have received criticism for not doing enough to promote black employees or executives.
Dorsey’s move to commemorate Juneteenth is the first such announcement among the Silicon Valley giants.
Juneteenth is not a public holiday in the U.S., but it is recognized as a state holiday in some states.
It marks the day when the Emancipation Proclamation — the document that freed the U.S.’s slaves — was finally read aloud in Texas, which was the last slave-owning state to receive the news, some 2.5 years after the document was actually signed.
