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player ready...Pharrell Williams is “happy” that a change is gonna come to his home state of Virginia.
The Grammy Award-winning hip-hop icon was on hand for a news conference with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to announce plans to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.
Commemorating the actual date in 1865 when African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned — more than 21/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation — that slavery was officially over, Juneteenth is traditionally celebrated annually on June 19.
The 47-year-old Virginia Beach native spoke in support of the motion, which would make Juneteenth a paid holiday for all Virginia state employees.
“From this moment on, when you look up at the vastness of the night sky and you see those stars moving up there, know that those stars are our African ancestors dancing,” Williams said. “They’re dancing in celebration because their lives are finally being acknowledged.”
“It’s not the end of it, it’s merely just the beginning,” he continued. “Their lives matter, their descendants’ lives matter. Black lives matter in the eyes of the commonwealth. I can’t say that it always has but finally we recognize that black lives absolutely matter. And that’s not political, they [are] lives, they’re human beings.”
The “Happy” crooner encouraged Virginia businesses to offer paid time off for the holiday.
“This is a chance for our government, our corporations and our citizens to all stand in solidarity with their African American brothers and sisters,” Williams said. “This year, Juneteenth will look like no other Juneteenth before it.”
Williams also shared a brief clip of his speech to Instagram.
Williams said he hopes that Juneteenth will come to be celebrated with the enthusiasm that Americans celebrate Independence Day, noting that on July 4, 1776, “not everybody was free and celebrating their Independence Day.”
“So here’s our day. And if you love us, it’ll be your day, too,” he added.
The day is also called Emancipation Day and Freedom Day. Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth a holiday in 1980 and since then, 46 other states and Washington, D.C., have either made it a holiday or day of recognition.
Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Juneteenth will permanently be an annual company holiday in the United States.
Nike and the NFL will reportedly also recognize it within their corporate ranks.