In 1979, newly elected Texas state legislator Al Edwards Sr. introduced House Bill 1016, which would make June 19th a state holiday. Over the course of four months Edwards built a diverse coalition of support across the state legislature. As one Juneteenth celebrant put it, “Even if the American people in the United States didn’t really set that day aside for us, I believe they owe it to us anyway…they ought to give the colored man a day for his freedom. It should be a red spot on the calendar and really took aside for.” Edwards’s campaign proved successful, and in 1979, Texas became the first
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