With a proclamation and the raising of the Juneteenth flag, Brooklyn residents came together Tuesday to commemorate the upcoming holiday outside Borough Hall. 

June 19, 1865, was when the last enslaved Black people in the United States learned that they were free -- more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. 

Tuesday's event was the first of many to honor the historic day this month.

While the city and state have declared Juneteenth a holiday, Brooklyn residents are hoping that more people sign their petition to make Juneteenth a national holiday as well.