What did you do for Juneteenth?

June 19th, Juneteenth, was officially made a Federal holiday in 2021, the first new Federal holiday since Martin Luther King Day was declared a Federal holiday in 1983, forty years ago. We tend to think of Federal holidays as "days off," But there is no requirement for employers in the private sector to honor any Federal holiday. They don't have to give their workers the day off, or paid time off, or indeed make any accommodations for a Federal holiday.

Nor are the individual States required to recognize any Federal Holiday. In fact although, although it was established in 1983, fifteen years after Rev. King's assassination, it still took another seventeen years for the holiday to be recognized in all fifty states.

It's been three years since the establishment of Juneteenth, and while all fifty states recognize it as a holiday, less than half have officially designated it a paid or legal holiday. According to the Congressional Research Service, within SIBA territory only Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia observe Juneteenth as a permanent paid state/legal holiday.

SIBA does observe Juneteenth, and quietly closed it's virtual office on Monday. One SIBA bookstore that did not close was The Book Worm in Powder Springs, Georgia. For owner Julia Davis, opening her doors was how she honored the day:

"My bookstore," she posted to Facebook, "is in a building that when my mother was growing up she probably would not have been allowed in--or would have had to use the back door. A building I can say yes I own the bookstore AND the building too. I will honor my ancestors today AND MY MOTHER by turning the key to that building, turning on the OPEN sign and opening the door for others to walk in and learn."