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And marches and then the general and most common tradition a large cookout or outdoor picnic in celebration. and if you have ever been to galveston as i have for juneteenth those are the things you almost always see and experience. there's a parade or march and a cookout. this year i think there's some added certainly significance in that the rest of the country has joined in recognizing the significance of this date. it is certainly important to note that there are many emancipation traditions around the country. that thing about juneteenth that's distinctive is the very last slaves freed in ...

Restrictions putt in place. thank you, amanda. for the first time ever americans are commemorating the newest federal holiday today, juneteenth. celebrations are held coast to coast marking the day when the last enslaved people in america learned they were free in texas in 1865. two years after the emancipation proclamation was signed. marches and street parties and prayers have been going on and homage is paid to george floyd. nbc's antonio hilton and janelle ross are covering this. antonio, talk me through what you have been seeing out there today and the first celebration of juneteenth. >...

>> my reaction was like, omg. i am so excited that it is officially now a national holiday. and we worked hard to push for it. we was going around telling people to sign petitions. even when i was hanging out with friends, i said, hey, you know, sign the petition. let's make it a national holiday. it's okay, you're just putting your name. now that the hard work has paid off, i'm so blessed and honored to be part of this history of making juneteenth day a national holiday. >> why did you want to be a part of the juneteenth pageant? >> i wanted to be a part of it because i wanted to learn more a...

Festivals, cookouts but this is a community that's recognizing juneteenth for sometime. this festival has been happening more than a decade and while many of the organizers are happy that the rest of the country is catching up and it is a national holiday they see this as really not anything different from what they wanted to celebrate and bring attention to regardless and in the past. look at this t-shirt that many folks picked up. still freeish and still fighting. and that's really the overriding emotion here why don't be fooled by the dancing and the loud music and people hanging out. that ...

Welcome back. something to celebrate. juneteenth carries an even more poignant meaning today as it's recognized as a federal holiday but even without national recognition an annual pageant promoted the holiday and empower young, black women. >> the juneteenth pageant is more than a pageant. it is a program that is going to institute truth and history of where these girls have come from and knowing why all of the history matters. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i'm here representing texas. >> it's literally like watching the met mor that sis of a butterfly taking the ladies on. at the en...