'I Want To See More': Chicagoans Want Celebration Of Juneteenth To Evolve Into Policy Change

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Many are gearing up to celebrate Juneteenth.

It marks when the last slaves were freed in Texas, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

This the first time it's a federal holiday. CBS 2's Steven Graves has perspective from multiple generations.

Come Saturday, Chicago's Daley Plaza will, again, be the site of a movement.

This time, with a Juneteenth flag overhead, the occasion is officially a holiday.

It's mission accomplished for the thousands who came out last year.

"I think the mood for the march this year will be a mixture of things," said March For Us organizer Ashley Munson.

George Floyd's murder at the hands of police was the backdrop for much outrage last year.

It's giving Juneteenth, considered by some as Black people's Independence Day, more meaning.

With Juneteenth being a holiday now, how much weight does that hold?

"We have to acknowledge how far we've come, but that does not mean we're settling for what we have."

"It's imperative that policy gets created."

It's a sentiment echoed by many more young people in Chicago. Some who go further to look at the gesture of the holiday as empty symbolism.

"The symbolism of Juneteenth is nice, right, but we need reparations. We need the Goodkids Madcity Peacebook ordinance passed, which will incentivize peace and get money into communities. And to have restorative justice." said Kofi Ademola of Goodkids Madcity.

"Let's not just call it empty symbolism. Let's also it was a small step."

A small step toward recognizing equal rights, said Dorothy Levell, who as a print journalist, also highlighting the importance of education and communication.

Getting information out, seeing as the last enslaved Blacks were freed more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Some states fighting for years to get the Juneteenth recognized.

"They didn't know that they were free," said Levell of The Crusader. "So it is very important to them. They have been fighting a long time for it. So let us celebrate it for them."

"But I'm with the young people. "I want to see more. And quickly."

A celebration with acknowledgment of the long fight ahead.