Drink a martini to Juneteenth becoming a national holiday

Happy Juneteenth! To celebrate, I'm sharing Good Morning America's video clips about the holiday, beginning with Biden signs bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The new national holiday marks the day the last enslaved African-Americans were freed in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.

On the one hand, yay, a new national holiday. On the other, I can see why this might end up being a victory for symbolism over substance. Just the same, symbols matter and can inspire people to work on the substantive issues. Watch and listen to NAACP president discusses historic Juneteenth holiday to hear about those issues.

Derrick Johnson explains the importance of the day for communities of color across the U.S becoming a federal holiday.

The segment ends with a promotion of a special. Former President Barack Obama talks race, resilience and hope for Juneteenth is a clip from that special.

In a new “Soul of a Nation” special on ABC News, Obama sat down with “GMA’s” Michael Strahan ahead of Juneteenth to talk about its significance while looking toward the future.

I agree with both Obama and Derrick Johnson that lots of work needs to be done about racism, voting rights, and policing. May the activism for those be as successful as the activism to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Meet the ‘grandmother of Juneteenth’ to see the face of that activism.

Civil rights activist Opal Lee started a petition to make Juneteenth a national holiday and “walked thousands of miles” around Texas to promote her cause.

Congratulations to Opal Lee on her success and being an inspiration!

Enough seriousness. How to celebrate Juneteenth shows what to serve for today's celebrations.

Event planner and founder of “While Entertaining,” a magazine that highlights Black culinary creatives, Amber Mayfield gives us her insight on a Juneteenth-inspired meal.

Amber Mayfield ending her presentation with red velvet cake leads directly to the drink to celebrate today's other day, World Martini Day, Tipsy Bartender's Red Velvet Cake Martini.


For red velvet cake lovers everywhere!
That looks fun and delicious, even if I can't indulge because of my diabetes.

I'm just beginning to celebrate an extra-long holiday weekend. Stay tuned for Father's Day, the Summer Solstice, American Eagle Day, and National Seashell Day tomorrow, World Giraffe Day on Monday, World Rainforest Day on Tuesday, and the inaugural National Detroit-Style Pizza Day on Wednesday. With all the talk about UFOs, I might even observe World UFO Day on Thursday. As I wrote yesterday, doom can wait, even when I'm writing about threatened species and biomes.