RaShelle Davis, a senior policy adviser to Inslee, told a panel of state lawmakers earlier this year that making Juneteenth an official holiday was very personal for her.
“I am a descendant of enslaved people, and Juneteenth is my independence day — and it is the independence day of all Black Americans,” Davis testified during a public hearing. “Our freedom was denied and then later delayed, and we owe it to my ancestors to never forget.”
Washington state recognizes 10 other legal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Native American Heritage Day and Christmas Day.
Karen A. Johnson,
