Print The ongoing national conversation about racial injustice introduced many Americans to a holiday then not well known in the mainstream — Juneteenth, celebrating June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas finally learned they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years earlier, on Jan. 1, 1863. But we couldn’t do much with this knowledge in 2020. The pandemic made public celebrations a no-go, so most Juneteenth 2020 events were muted and, for safety’s sake, virtual. What a difference a year — and mass vaccinations — can make. This year, Angelenos have a long list of diverse, real-life events to choose from, from remembrances of an early civil rights activist to community parades and rallies to celebrations involving music, food and drink.