How Black People Built American Democracy: A Juneteenth Celebration

The promise of American democracy could not be fulfilled until all Americans were free.

Following the moment of Black liberation marked by Juneteenth, Black Americans began the ongoing project of securing and protecting their rights to vote, and to lead. In this special Juneteenth episode, host Kai Wright traces the lineage of our democracy being actualized to the period after Emancipation, when political leadership like that of late Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan emerged and began to shape the potential and the power of the Black vote on our nation.

Recorded live at Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church where Jordan was a member, Kai welcomes Rev. Ronald Bell, the church's senior director of membership, and scholar Mary Ellen Curtin, author of the forthcoming biography "She Changed The Nation: Barbara Jordan's Life and Legacy in Black Politics," to reflect on the first Black person elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Black woman from the South to serve in Congress. They're also joined by Sonny Messiah-Jiles, CEO and Publisher of Houston's Defender Media Group, a Black community news organization, to discuss how Black voters continue to shape politics in an election year that's crucial to the sustainability of our democracy.

Special thanks to event partner AHF through its We The People Coalition, marching forward to protect democracy. Thanks also to Houston Public Media, Rice University and the community of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church including Pastor D.Z. Cofield, Linda Whitley, Mark Taylor, David Donaldson, Daniel Williams, Ian Chestnut and Travis Rucker.

Companion listening for this episode: "Juneteenth is an Act of Bravery" (6/19/2023)

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Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.