PORTSMOUTH, N.H. >> Juneteenth celebrations unfolded across the U.S. on Thursday, marking the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas and attracting participants who said current events strengthened their resolve to be heard.

The holiday has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations, but became more widely observed after being designated a federal holiday in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, who attended a Juneteenth event at a church in Galveston, Texas, the holiday’s birthplace.

Biden said he was proud to sign the law making Juneteenth a federal holiday because “all Americans should know the weight and power of this day.”

“Some say to me and you that this doesn’t deserve to be a federal holiday. They don’t want to remember what we all remember, the moral stain of slavery,” he said.

The celebrations come as President Donald Trump’s administration has worked to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government and remove content about Black American history from federal websites. Trump’s travel ban on visitors from select countries has also led to bitter national debate.

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Robert Reid waved a large Juneteenth flag at the city’s African Burying Ground Memorial Park, where African drummers and dancers led the crowd in song and dance. Reid, 60, said he attended in part to stand against what he called Trump’s “divide and conquer” approach.

“It’s time for people to get pulled together instead of separated,” he said.

Jordyn Sorapuru, 18, visiting New Hampshire from California, called the large turnout a “beautiful thing.”

“It’s nice to be celebrated every once in a while, especially in the political climate right now,” she said. “With the offensive things going on right now, with brown people in the country and a lot of people being put at risk for just existing, having celebrations like this is really important.”