Corey D. B. Walker
Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, Wake Forest University-
After decades of being celebrated at mostly the local level, Juneteenth — the long-standing holiday that commemorates the arrival of news of emancipation and freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 — became a federal holiday in 2021. In honor of this year’s Juneteenth, The Conversation reached out to Wake Forest University humanities professor Corey D. B. Walker for a list of readings that can help people better understand the history and meaning of the observance.