The Juneteenth Flag-raising

As authorized by the TOWN OF CHEVERLY ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION 2019-03 on FLAGS

On the raising of the Juneteenth Flag on November 1, Maryland Emancipation Day, 2020.

Mayor Riazi has directed that the Town of Cheverly raise the Juneteenth flag at 1:00 p.m. on November 1.  The flag raising ceremony was originally coordinated with the anticipated June 19, 2020 Juneteenth community celebrations.  Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when, almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, a group of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned that they were free from the institution of slavery. Juneteenth community celebrations planned for 2020 have twice been delayed by COVID-19 restrictions.  In October of 2020, the Mayor and Council recognized Juneteenth as an official Town Holiday by a unanimous vote.

“November 1 is Maryland Emancipation Day, commemorating the date in 1864 when the people of Maryland adopted a new constitution abolishing slavery.  Although here in Cheverly we continue to be unable to physically gather in the numbers befitting the first occasion of the Town of Cheverly raising the Juneteenth flag, it is with every sense of purpose and responsibility that I direct that a limited attendance, masked and physically distanced flag raising ceremony may go forward on this celebratory day.” Mayor Riazi said in ordering that the flag be raised.

As outlined in the Maryland Archives, Maryland's 1851 Constitution forbade passage of ‘any law abolishing the relation of master or slave.’ Therefore, legally abolishing slavery in Maryland ultimately required that the legislature hold a constitutional convention and draft a new constitution.  This third state constitution received approval of the voters on September 18, 1864 and took effect November 1 of the same year.  The operative language reads,