OUSD Celebrates Juneteenth: Honoring Oakland’s Legacy of Freedom

As we celebrate Juneteenth on Friday, June 19, we honor a day of profound meaning for our city and nation. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date when freedom was finally granted to more than 250,000 enslaved Black Americans in Texas, the final people still in shackles, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. That proclamation freed more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans who were held in rebel states in the American South.

Interestingly enough, the Emancipation Proclamation did not initially apply to Black Americans who were enslaved in border states such as Maryland, Kentucky, and MIssouri. However, as the Civil War pressed on, and more Black Americans joined the Union’s war efforts, more freedom was gained through their invaluable contributions to bring the nation back together in a new era. News of liberation traveled slowly and unevenly, and freedom had to be carried forward, defended, organized for, and made real by generations of people who refused to give up hope. We stand on their shoulders today and must continue to keep this legacy alive.

Much of Oakland’s story of Black freedom fighting is well known, from the dockworkers who organized for economic justice at the Port of Oakland to the Black Panther Party’s vision of self-determination, education, food access, health care, self-defense, and community care. But one of Oakland’s earliest chapters of Black organizing is told less often, and it arrived on the rails.

Oakland’s Pullman porters. Photo from Oakland Public Library.

Black workers employed as Pullman porters by the Pullman Palace Car Company, beginning as early as 1867, helped transform West Oakland into a thriving Black community. These men were often overqualified for the service jobs available to them, yet they turned that work into something powerful. As they traveled the country, porters carried news and culture with them, including the Chicago Defender, the nation’s most influential Black newspaper, which was banned in parts of the South and had to be smuggled in at great risk. Their efforts helped fuel the Great Migration of Black families to the North and West, and their steady work helped lay the foundation for the Black middle class.

Neighborhood and business block of Seventh Street. Photo from FoundSF.

That legacy took root on Seventh Street, in the heart of West Oakland. The bustling corridor of Black-owned businesses, restaurants, churches, clubs, and music venues was, for generations, the place to be. It was there in 1925, that workers organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which later became the first Black-led union in the country to be recognized by the American Federation of Labor. After a dozen years of struggle, the Pullman Company signed a contract with the Brotherhood in 1937, the very first contract between an African American union and a major American corporation.

C.L. Dellums. Photo from BlackPast.org.

Leading that fight from a modest office above a Seventh Street pool hall was Oakland’s own C.L. (Cottrell Laurence) Dellums, who went on to become the NAACP’s first West Coast director. He led many of the group’s efforts for fair housing and challenged employment discrimination and police brutality across California. His nephew, Ron Dellums, carried the family’s legacy forward as a member of Congress and later, as Mayor of Oakland. A statue of C.L. Dellums stands today at the Amtrak station that bears his name at Jack London Square.

As Black families made their homes in Oakland and across the Bay Area, they carried Juneteenth traditions with them, helping root the celebration of freedom in our local history. San Francisco has held Juneteenth celebrations since 1950, and California formally recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday in 2003.

Today, that same spirit of remembrance, pride, and possibility lives on in our schools.

It drives our students who lead Black Student Unions on our campuses, who participate in our African American Male Achievement and African American Female Excellence programs, celebrate their culture, work toward success every day, and use their voices to advocate for their communities. It motivates the educators, staff, families, and mentors who help our students understand their history, take pride in who they are, and imagine a future rooted in equity, justice, and joy.

You can watch KDOL’s video of this year’s Oscar Wright Celebration of African American Excellence, celebrating OUSD students whose academic achievement, leadership, and excellence continue to inspire our schools and community.

To learn more about Oakland’s Black history, you can explore these resources:

African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO): Preserves the papers of C.L. Dellums and the history of the East Bay.

National Museum of African American History and Culture: Learn more about the history of Juneteenth and explore the free Juneteenth Digital Toolkit.

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, a recognition of history, and a call to keep carrying that work forward. Across OUSD, we honor the Black American students, families, and educators whose voices, leadership, culture, and joy strengthen our schools every day. We invite everyone to celebrate this important day and continue pushing the city and nation on the long journey toward freedom, justice, and hope.