Millions observe Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. Many corporate employees have Friday off, after Twitter, Nike, Target and other major companies added Juneteenth as a paid holiday this year. And Virginia and New York said that Juneteenth would be a paid holiday for state employees. “This is unprecedented,” said Albert S. Broussard, a professor of history at the Texas A&M University, who said his own employer was allowing nonessential employees to take Juneteenth as a paid holiday. “This moment in time has motivated people to react differently, to behave differently about this, and that’s a good thing.”

Source: New York Times June 19, 2020 10:20 UTC