By Henry McKoy
June 16, 2022
One hundred and fifty-six years after the first official celebration of Juneteenth, the question remains whether Black Americans can have full freedom without economic emancipation. The fight over the future of Durham’s historic Hayti neighborhood tells that story.
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For some, Juneteenth is known as America’s “second Independence Day.” Short for June 19, it commemorates the date in 1865 when the last of the nation’s Black slaves are said to have gotten news that they were now free.