President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the First Lady and Second Gentleman will host a virtual Black History Month Celebration featuring performances by Anthony Hamilton and the St. Augustine Gospel Choir. The prerecorded event takes place at 8 p.m. ET tonight (Friday, Feb. 26).
The program will be livestreamed on the White House official Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels and, according to the announcement, share messages celebrating the Black experience and Black contributions to our country’s history. The event will also highlight the executive actions and policy proposals that honor Black History by working to lift every voice and improving the futures of Black Americans.
To watch the celebration at 8 p.m. ET, clickhere.
As noted by The Grio. the annual event normally takes place on the state floor of the White House and is packed with attendees in the East Room, where speeches and live entertainment are presented.However, this year’s virtual component will allow for a much larger audience than could normally attend the event in person.
Over the decades, U.S. presidents of both political parties have held official celebrations for Black History Month, where celebrities, Black leaders and those concerned with and for the community gather for music, speeches and fellowship.
Hamilton told theGriothat he will perform two songs during his set, including his latest single, “Mercy.”
“Well, ‘Mercy’ was a song that we put out after George Floyd and all this stuff just writing. And I felt like the song was speaking to the men who were feeling heavy and feeling overwhelmed by all the events and just feeling let down by society,” he said. “I wanted to let him know … it’s OK to take a little moment, to take it all in and to, you know, just say sometimes you just need a little mercy, a little minute to regroup and need to be loved and appreciated.”
For their performance, members of the St.Augustine Choir will sing the from different rooms of the White House, due to COVID restrictions but also to allow viewers to see different areas of the house.
