Pharrell Williams was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he talked about the fact that his home state, Virginia, just made Juneteenth a paid state holiday. Pharrell is from the Virginia Beach area and does a lot to help Virginia and his hometown. During the beginning of the pandemic he helped raised over $21 million by rerouting money pledged to a VA Beach music festival to World Central Kitchen and local restaurants. Pharrell just helped Governor Northam announce that Juneteenth would become an official state holiday. It turns out that we have Pharrell to thank for that. He told Kimmel that he called Northam and told him that this would be part of his legacy and the legacy of Virginia.

On how he asked Northam to make Juneteenth a holiday
It’s high time that if we’re going to think about what independence and what freedom really looks like. Ours was never really acknowledged. There’s 47 states that observe [Juneteenth] but it’s not a paid holiday. We deserve a paid holiday.

I called [Northam] and said ‘I feel like this is important not only for your own legacy but for the legacy of Virginia and if you would be willing to officiate this and make this a paid holiday I will travel for the first time.’ My wife is not playing no games with this Covid-19. As you know we have 600 children so we can’t afford to play any games. This is serious. This is for not only me, this is for my ancestors who absolutely came through on the hull of a ship in Virginia 400 years ago. So for me, this was incredibly symbolic and it’s necessary.

“Your family has been in Virginia since they came over?”
I actually did my episode of Finding my Roots. I found that we came through on the ships where my ancestors were enslaved through Virginia and then we ended up in Nash County in North Carolina. With a very horrific set of details.

“Are other states considering this now?”
Andrew Cuomo, who is never late, is right on it. So we have New York. We’re reaching out to Governor Newsom. I’d like to get to the governor of Connecticut.

[From Jimmy Kimmel on YouTube]

Jimmy also asked how we celebrate Juneteenth and if there’s a specific food or drink and what the traditions are. Pharrell said we sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and have cookouts and barbecue. He said that while we celebrate Fourth of July that’s not freedom for Black and Native American people. “If you love us, this holiday is for you too. It’s American history. If you really care about your fellow Americans, this is a holiday that you should support. You should be reaching out to your local governors and telling them how important this holiday is to you.” I hope Biden will make Juneteenth a national holiday and that Pharrell goes to The White House to help announce it.

In that same episode Jimmy announced that he’s taking the summer off to spend more time with his family. He said nothing is wrong and he’s just taking a break. The show is taking two weeks off and will be using guest hosts for the next couple of months.

Here’s that interview:

Here’s Pharrell’s speech:

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Today I joined Virginia Gov. Northam to announce Juneteenth as a state holiday. A paid holiday is just the start—to stand in solidarity with Black employees and with all Black people.

A post shared by Pharrell Williams (@pharrell) on Jun 16, 2020 at 5:40pm PDT

Photos credit: Avalon.red