In 2020, a simple conversation led to a community effort that helped make Juneteenth a paid holiday in Alameda County.

 

While studying one of the collective bargaining agreements of Teamsters Local 70 in Alameda County, I noticed something missing from the list of paid holidays: Juneteenth.

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The contract listed holidays such as the Fourth of July, a day Americans celebrate as Independence Day.

 

I appreciate the Fourth of July and what it represents for our country. But as I reviewed that list, another thought crossed my mind. For many African Americans, the story of freedom has another important date: June 19, also known as Juneteenth.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued. It is a day that represents freedom delayed, but not denied.

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Just a few days before Juneteenth in 2020, I went to Oakland to speak with my father, Joseph Spooner Sr., who was born in Texas in 1939. At the time, he was 80 years old, and the original Juneteenth in 1865 had taken place just 74 years before he was born. I asked him what Juneteenth meant to him.

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He explained how deeply important the day was to many Black families, especially those whose roots were in Texas. He reminded me that his own grandfather had lived through a time when the legacy of slavery was not distant history but something people still talked about within their families and communities.

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My father told me that Juneteenth had once been widely recognized but that over the years many people had stopped paying attention to it. He believed it was important that younger generations learn what the day meant.

I remember telling him that day that I was going to try to change that, at least in some small way.

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At first, my idea was simple. I approached leaders at Teamsters Local 70 with the idea that Juneteenth could eventually become a recognized paid holiday in union contracts. The goal was not just time off. The goal was recognition. When a day appears on a calendar as a holiday, people begin asking questions. They begin learning the history behind it.

Union leadership encouraged the idea but suggested that if something like this were going to move forward, it would need broader community support.

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So I started reaching out. I contacted nonprofit organizations, churches, and community groups across Alameda County. Organizations such as Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, Urban Strategies and Glad Tidings International Church of God in Christ were among the community and faith leaders who supported the idea. Many organizations provided their logos to be included on letters of support.

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As support grew, the conversation expanded beyond the workplace. I shared the idea with Alameda County Supervisor Richard Valle, whose district I was connected to through my service as Chairman of the Alameda County AB109 Community Advisory Board. Supervisor Valle and his staff listened carefully and encouraged further discussion about what it might take to recognize Juneteenth at the county level.

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Through additional research, I learned that Santa Clara County had already taken steps to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday. That information helped provide a roadmap for how something similar could be considered in Alameda County.

Momentum continued to build as labor organizations, community leaders and residents voiced their support through emails and conversations. I regularly shared the growing list of supporters with members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

Eventually Supervisors Richard Valle and Nate Miley brought the issue forward for discussion before the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

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In 2021, the board directed county departments to study what it would take to establish Juneteenth as a county holiday. Two years later, in 2023, Alameda County officially adopted Juneteenth as a paid holiday for county employees.

Today, thousands of workers across Alameda County receive time off each June 19 to recognize a day that represents an important chapter in American history. Families gather. Communities celebrate. And more people learn the story behind the date.

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For me, the journey began with a simple conversation with my father. He passed away in October 2025, but I often think back to that moment in 2020 when he told me how important Juneteenth was to people who came before us, especially members of our family like his grandfather.

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Seeing the day recognized today reminds me that sometimes meaningful change begins with a single conversation and a willingness to act on it.

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~ Kamarlo “Marlo Da Motivator” Spooner