Juneteenth will become a paid holiday in Wake County

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — North Carolina’s Wake County says it’s the first in the state to make Juneteenth a paid county holiday.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the county’s Board of Commissioners voted to approve the holiday during a virtual meeting on Monday.

Juneteenth celebrates the day in 1865 that all enslaved black people learned they had been freed from bondage.

The holiday has reached a new level of recognition in the wake of protests across the country against racism and police brutality.

Wake County said in a news release that it’s the first to make Juneteenth a paid holiday in the state.

The county has more than 4,000 employees.