(KNSI) – Two community leaders in St. Cloud were beside Governor Tim Walz when he signed a bill designating Juneteenth as an official state holiday and outlawing discrimination based on a hairstyle.
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Higher Works Collaborative CEO and Founder Pastor James Alberts and Director of Operations Buddy King were in St. Paul for Friday’s signing ceremony.
Governor Walz made Minnesota the 26th state to recognize June 19th as a holiday. It’s the date in 1865 viewed as the final abolition of slavery in the U.S. It became a federal holiday in 2021.
King explained he and Alberts received an invitation to the signing because of how impressed the governor’s staff was with St. Cloud’s Juneteenth celebration in 2022. Governor Walz will sign the designation on February 3rd at the Capitol.
The City of St. Cloud will have its official festivities on Friday, June 16th, from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Eastman Park on the shores of Lake George.
Walz also held a ceremonial signing Friday of a bill known as the CROWN Act. It explicitly prohibits racial discrimination based on natural hair texture and hairstyles such as braids, locs, and twists. Nineteen other states and several cities have enacted similar protections since 2019.
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