“If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love,” said Ms. Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth, as she kicked off the White House’s first-ever Juneteenth concert alongside Vice President Harris.
The event, in coordination with Black Music Month, brought out A-list stars like Jennifer Hudson, Ledisi, Audra McDonald, even the Tennessee State Marching Band, and many more.
An excerpt from President Biden’s remarks: “To me, making Juneteenth a federal holiday wasn’t just a symbolic gesture. It was a statement of fact for this country to acknowledge the origin of — original sin of slavery. To understand the war [that] was never fought over it — it wasn’t just about a Union, but it was most fundamentally about the country and freedom.”
This historic day commemorates the moment on June 19, 1865, when Union Soldiers carried the news of emancipation to the last enslaved Black individuals in Galveston, Texas.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
