Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the descendants of some of the most prominent Civil Rights leaders from the 1950s and ’60s and other foundational historic figures, who gathering at the White House on Tuesday, some convening in the same room for the first time.
The families of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Emmett Till, and Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, among others, are scheduled to attend.
Harris praised the descendants of “extraordinary American heroes” who, she said embody the promise of the nation and the Constitution.
“They’ve passed the baton to us,” Harris said Tuesday.
Stephen K. Benjamin, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, followed Harris to recap the administration’s initiatives, including an executive order tied to police accountability and Joe Biden signing the law to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The Descendants, as the group calls itself, will pay homage to their familial legacies as they celebrate the Black History Month event hosted by the Biden-Harris administration.
Joshua Jordison, one of the behind-the-scenes coordinators for The Descendants, said discussions to bring this group together began several years ago.
“It was amazing that many of them had never met,” he said.
Invitations went out to other notable families, organizers said, although some were unable to attend due to scheduling and other factors.
“Having carried the ancestral weight of history upon our shoulders, The Descendants possess the unique ability to lead our nation in a much-needed spirit of collaboration and community,” Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a descendent of Frederick Douglass and his first wife, Anna Murray Douglass, told NBC News.
“This historic event marks the beginning of coalescing The Descendants’ families and like-minded leaders and organizations to catalyze transformative positive societal change amongst the most significant challenges faced by our country,” Morris said.
Morris is also a descendant of Booker T. Washington, he said, whose families were joined by marriage in the 1940s.
Through the nonprofit he co-founded, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, Morris’ work and that of his mother, Nettie Washington Douglass, has centered around antiracism and human rights. But he stressed that while he helped organize the convening, it is not about one person or family. “It’s an equal collaboration. We are all coming together,” he said.
Ernestine “Tina” Martin Wyatt is a great-great-great-grandniece of Harriet Tubman. The Washington, D.C., resident hosts an annual Harriet Tubman Day celebration in the district to educate the public about the contributions of her famed ancestor. She said she was “excited” to meet the descendants of fellow freedom fighters.
Nearly 100 other guests are also expected to attend. Morris is among those expected to give remarks at the White House reception, along with several members of the Congressional Black Caucus and administration officials.
Beyond the official gathering, a series of activities for the descendant families will be held in the district on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Their itinerary is expected to include stops at the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, Supreme Court and a tour of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, as well as dinners and opportunities for group dialogue.
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