Taylor Swift calls for Juneteenth to be celebrated as a national holiday

She’s taken to speaking out more and more about political and social issues she cares about.

And on Thursday, Taylor Swift once again took to her Instagram, this time to voice support for making Juneteenth a national holiday.

The pop superstar, 30, shared a video explaining the significance of June 19 in the history of the emancipation of slaves and called for it to be celebrated as a national holiday.

Swift announced that she is giving all of her employees Friday off ‘in honor of Freedom Day’ and will continue to make June 19 a holiday for those who work for her in the future.

The hitmaker pledged ‘to continue to educate myself on the history that brought us to this present moment.’

She explained: ‘For my family, everything that has transpired recently gives us an opportunity to reflect, listen, and reprogram any part of our lives that hasn’t been loudly and ferociously anti-racist, and to never let privilege lie dormant when it could be used to stand up for what’s right.’

Juneteenth commemorates June 19 1865 which officially marked the end of America’s Civil War when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with his soldiers and declared all slaves were free.

Since 1980, the day has been a public holiday in Texas and in the light of the Black Lives Matter movement, advocates are calling for it to become a national holiday.

Earlier this week, Swift had added her voice to the chorus of celebrities joyfully welcoming the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

The Lover and Bad Blood star tweeted: ‘YES!! Thank you to the Supreme Court Justices who voted in favor and all the advocates who have fought so hard for this! We still have a long way to go to reach equality, but this is a beautiful step forward.’ 

And earlier this month, the pop star asked her Twitter followers to vote for local and state leaders who will address systematic racism.    

‘Racial injustice has been ingrained deeply into local and state governments, and changes MUST be made there,’ she tweeted on June 9.

‘In order for policies to change, we need to elect people who will fight against police brutality and racism of any kind. #BlackLivesMatter,’ she wrote. 

Swift also used her social media platform promote mail-in voting, which would allow people to submit a ballot without having to wait in line during the pandemic.

‘We need to fight for mail-in voting for the 2020 election. No one should have to choose between their health and having their voice heard,’ she wrote, along with a link to voting resources.