Twitter, Square Will Mark Juneteenth As Holiday To Honor African-American Culture

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter Inc. TWTR and Square Inc. SQ, announced that both companies would honor Juneteenth as a holiday each year, a day on which many African-Americans celebrate their emancipation.

What Happened

Dorsey tweeted that the company is identifying dates that can be marked as a celebration of emancipation.

Countries and regions around the world have their own days to celebrate emancipation, and we will do the work to make those dates company holidays everywhere we are present.
— jack (@jack) June 9, 2020

Dorsey’s move on Juneteenth comes after the microblogging company instituted a policy of labeling and fact-checking Tweets, including those that promote violence.

President Donald Trump’s tweet about George Floyd, an African-American killed by a white policeman in Minnesota and the subsequent protests, drew Twitter’s censorship.

Why It Matters

According to the Juneteenth Organizations & Supporters, Juneteenth is the oldest commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.

It celebrates the day when Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas, and announced that those enslaved were now free.

Dorsey and other business leaders have pledged to support the African-American community by way of donations. The Twitter CEO will donate $3 million toward the advancement of black and brown communities.

Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG is giving away $12 million to organizations that work for racial equality.

Amazon Inc. AMZN is making a donation of $10 million to 11 organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Social media giant Facebook Inc. FB, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg has decided not to censor Trump’s posts, announced a grant of $10 million to groups working on racial justice.