Back in 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, marking the creation of the first federal holiday to be added to the calendar since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Ever since, June 19 has been recognized as the anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States.

Visit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGEMind you, although it was on June 19, 1865, that the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was ordered in Texas, it still did not mean that all slaves were finally set free. In states that had not seceded from the Union, there remained slaves who were not liberated until the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified months later, on December 6, 1865.

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In honor of Juneteenth — a blend of June and 19th — Soaps.com is shining a spotlight on some of the most important Black characters in daytime history, trailblazers from The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and a whole host of shows that are no longer with us, from All My Children and As the World Turns to One Life to Live and Generations.

Needless to say, we’re also celebrating the movers and shakers from Beyond the Gates, the first new soap since Passions’ 1999 debut and the first daytime drama centered around a Black family since Generations in 1989. (How do we love Beyond the Gates? Let us count just a few of the many ways!)

To review the Who’s Who, just click on the gallery below. Then hit the comments with the names of the characters you think we should add to the list.