Juneteenth Announced as Federal Holiday; City of Boise Reacts

As of today, June 17th of 2021, Juneteenth is now announced as a Federal Holiday per the signature of President Joe Biden and the approval of both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

Juneteenth, if you did not know, commemorates June 19th of 1865 when it was up to Union soldiers to tell the enslaved that freedom had been announced. It's a powerful and moving story, one that has been brought to light more and more over the years and now one that will forever be recognized, as it should be, annually.

The City of Boise Mayor Lauren McLean quickly released a statement via Twitter this afternoon:

When it comes to Idaho, all Senators (Crapo and Risch) and House Representatives (Fulcher and Simpson) in D.C. voted for approval of this motion. 

All of us at Townsquare Media Boise are proud to announce we will be observing Juneteenth, as well--while our studios and offices also cannot close, this year, on such a short notice we stand with our black brothers and sisters here in the Treasure Valley and beyond.