As the nation prepares to observe Juneteenth for the first time, ABC News spoke to descendants of leaders in the Black community including those of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
On Juneteenth, descendants of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells and Malcolm X share how their ancestors risked their lives for justice and how their work continues today.For enslaved Africans in America, the idea of freedom was just a dream.
Douglass and Washington, the co-founder of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee University, both advocated for the education and the advancement of African Americans.In 2007, inspired by a National Geographic cover story exploring modern-day slavery, Morris Jr. and other members of the Douglass family launched the nonprofit Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, an organization dedicated to educating students on human trafficking and racial equity.
Born into slavery in Mississippi, Wells was just a few months old when slaves were freed. A journalist, educator and suffragist, she became a critical voice during the Reconstruction era by uncovering the horrific wave of lynchings in the South at the time. In 2020, Wells was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the lynchings.
Ilyasah Shabazz, the third daughter of six from Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, recalled America's radical depiction of her father following his assassination in 1965. Morris Jr., Shabazz, and Duster said that understanding the full scope of America’s history, including its darker moments, is still a work in progress but the platforms they are using allow them to help educate the masses.
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