Celebrating Juneteenth in the borderland

Juneteenth — also known as freedom day and emancipation day — commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. on June 19th, 1865.

With a predominant Hispanic community in El Paso, Founder of Black El Paso Voice Monica Tucker believes that many forget that Texas was the last confederate state to abolish slavery in 1865.

ABC-7 met with Tucker at the McCall Neighborhood Center, which preserves the Black heritage of the Southwest and continues to be the gathering place for El Paso’s Black community — where they were welcomed during segregation.

Tucker has partnered up with the City of El Paso for Juneteenth for the second year in a row. She says that the celebration is in the education.

"We still have to remember our history and teach others about our history so that we won't repeat it and we won't allow others to repeat it," says Tucker. "So we have to be engaged civically and that's what we do for Juneteenth. So Juneteenth may be June 19th, but we consider it every day because it's something that we have to continue to talk about every day."

Her mission is to educate the El Paso youth and community on this history and several misconceptions still being made — such as the Juneteenth flag colors.

"Many people look and they'll say, 'Well, why are your colors red, white and blue? That's the colonizer thing.' But our ancestors fought for that American flag," explains Tucker. "When you look back in history and you see, photos from Juneteenth, they're waving the American flag for a reason. So it's a discredit, and it's an insult to have any other colors waving for Juneteenth other than red, white and blue."

On Thursday, the McCall Neighborhood Center will be hosting a Juneteenth Prayer Breakfast starting at 8 A.M.