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What Juneteenth means for many Black Bostonians

47:47
Black Lives Matter rally participants stand near the Government Center MBTA station in Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Black Lives Matter rally participants stand near the Government Center MBTA station in Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Editor's Note: We're re-airing this segment for Juneteenth 2024. The text of our original post is below.


It's Juneteenth 2023, and only the third year that Massachusetts has marked it as an official holiday. Juneteenth observes the date that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached a group of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, two and a half years after it was issued.

In this special hour, we take stock of this moment in Black Boston. With arguably more Black leaders in power, more investment dollars on the table for equity and inclusion, more diversity in elected officials and more frank discussion about race happening that at any time in the city's modern history, we discuss whether the city is on the brink of real change.

This article was originally published on June 19, 2023.

This segment aired on June 19, 2023.

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Tiziana Dearing Host, Morning Edition

Tiziana Dearing is the host of WBUR's Morning Edition.

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Headshot of Khari Thompson
Khari Thompson Producer, Radio Boston

Khari Thompson was a producer for Radio Boston.

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Headshot of Amanda Beland
Amanda Beland Senior Producer

Amanda Beland is a senior producer for WBUR. She also reports for the WBUR newsroom.

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