The Ottawa City Commission has approved a proclamation recognizing June 19th as Juneteenth, the day that slaves were officially freed after the Civil War. Accepting the proclamation was former ECKAN Director and City Commissioner, Richard Jackson. Jackson said even after Juneteenth there was still slavery:
The 40 acres and a mule was an idea that was originated by some white and black leaders toward the end of the Civil War in order to give the freed slaves farmland from former Confederate owned land, as a way to support themselves. Tragically, the idea died with the assassination of President Lincoln.
