Taylor Swift has joined calls for Juneteenth, the date which marks the official end of slavery in the US, to be made a national holiday.
June 19 commemorates the day in 1865 when black people in Texas finally learned slavery had been abolished.
While there have often been calls to make it a federally recognised holiday, Juneteenth has taken on a renewed significance following the mass protests against racial inequality sparked by the death of George Floyd.
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Swift shared a video from the African American-oriented magazine The Root explaining why it should be a national holiday.
The pop superstar said: “Personally, I’ve made the decision to give all of my employees June 19th off in honour of Freedom Day from now on, and to continue to educate myself on the history that brought us to this present moment.
“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.”
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