In June, BLS Library commemorates and celebrates Juneteenth, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Caribbean American Heritage Month.  

 

 

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19 of each year, commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were finally freed, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been effected in 1863. While African American communities have celebrated Juneteenth since the late 1800s, June 19 only became a federal holiday in 2021. For more resources on Juneteenth, visit our digital book display at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/Juneteenth

 

LGBTQ+ Pride Month has its roots in the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, here in New York City. The first Pride marches took place a year later, in June 1970. Since then, there have been annual commemorations and celebrations in June, to recognize and uplift LGBTQ+ voices and advocate for equality. BLS Library has books on marriage equality, Harvey Milk, legal milestones in LGBTQ+ history, and many other print and digital resources relevant to Pride Month: https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/LGBTQ_Pride_Month

 

Caribbean American Heritage Month has been officially recognized and celebrated every year since 2006. The first Presidential Proclamation recognizing Caribbean-American Heritage Month, by then President George W. Bush, celebrated “the great contributions of Caribbean Americans to the fabric of our Nation” and paid tribute to “the common culture and bonds of friendship that unite the United States and the Caribbean countries.”  The many distinguished Caribbean Americans affiliated with BLS include U.S. District Judge Hon. Sparkle L. Sooknanan, '10, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for OT 2013. Check out the many print and ebooks in our collection on topics related to Caribbean Americans, at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/digital_book_displays/Caribbean_American_Heritage_Month