In a Black History Month event at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 13, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the descendants of some of the most influential civil rights leaders from the 1950s and \u201960s, along with other foundational historical figures. The gathering marked the first time many of those families convened in the same room. Prominent figures such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Emmett Till, Thomas Jefferson, and Sally Hemings were scheduled to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harris praised the descendants as \u201cextraordinary American heroes\u201d who embody the promise of the nation and the Constitution. \u201cThey\u2019ve passed the baton to us,\u201d Harris remarked during her address. Stephen K. Benjamin, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, outlined the administration\u2019s initiatives, including an executive order related to police accountability and President Joe Biden\u2019s signing of the law establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group, known as \u201cThe Descendants,\u201d gathered to pay homage to their familial legacies in celebration of Black History Month. One of the coordinators, Joshua Jordison, revealed that discussions to bring this diverse group together began several years ago. \u201cIt was amazing that many of them had never met,\u201d he said. While invitations were extended to other notable families, some could not attend due to scheduling conflicts and other factors. According to Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a descendant of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, the goal of The Descendants is to lead the nation in a spirit of collaboration and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis historic event marks the beginning of coalescing The Descendants\u2019 families and like-minded leaders and organizations to catalyze transformative positive societal change amongst the most significant challenges faced by our country,\u201d Morris emphasized. Beyond the White House reception, a series of activities were planned for the descendant families in Washington on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The itinerary included stops at the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Supreme Court, and a tour of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Additionally, there were dinners and opportunities for group dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ernestine \u201cTina\u201d Martin Wyatt, a great-great-great-grandniece of Harriet Tubman, was among those to express excitement about meeting the descendants of fellow freedom fighters. \u201cIt\u2019s an equal collaboration. We are all coming together,\u201d Morris asserted. Nearly 100 other guests, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus and administration officials, attended the event. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), a featured speaker, commended the families for their personal sacrifices and tireless work to preserve and protect their ancestors\u2019 legacies. \u201cAt a time when our fundamental freedoms are once again under attack, we are grateful to President Biden not only for convening this event but for his commitment to furthering the progress that our foremothers and forefathers fought and died to achieve,\u201d Sewell stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a Black History Month event at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 13, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the descendants of some of the most influential civil rights leaders from the 1950s and \u201960s, along with other foundational historical figures. The gathering marked the first time many of those families convened in the same […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[110,27,1338],"class_list":["post-2220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-black-history-month","tag-kamala-harris","tag-white-house","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2221,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220\/revisions\/2221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}