Cheers and quiet reflection as US crowds mark Juneteenth

Marching bands sparked loud cheers and quieter reflections about racial justice from crowds gathered on Saturday to mark Juneteenth as a new US federal holiday commemorating the end of the legal enslavement of Black Americans.

Marching bands sparked loud cheers and quieter reflections about racial justice from crowds gathered on Saturday to mark Juneteenth as a new US federal holiday commemorating the end of the legal enslavement of Black Americans. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday signed a bill making Juneteenth the 11th federally recognized holiday, just over a year after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited nationwide protests for racial justice and for ending police brutality.“Juneteenth is a day of profound weight and profound power,” Biden tweeted on Saturday.