u.s. federal holiday. tonight it is going to be extraordinary. a concert that s uplifting and educational and only seen here on cnn. enjoying an extraordinary display of black talent of genres and generations here. the all-star lineup with earth wind and fire with september and the legendary chaka khan live on stage with ain t nobody. that s michelle turner next to me. and khalid with talk and ne-yo performing and also featured special messages. michelle obama and the first black vice president of the united states kamala harris and will hear from president joe biden. we ll set the stage for the show in less than an hour by talking to the woman known as the grandmother of juneteenth which is opal lee. amazingly young at 95. played a leading role to push lawmakers to formally recognize this holiday. so happy to be with you. it will be a production unlike anything we have seen. the first thing you hear groaning is next to me, michelle turner. i want to know who authoriz
i don t know how to explain it. what do you say to those who question why juneteenth needs to be a federal holiday when this country has july fourth? they need to be aware that juneteenth means freedom. they need to know the story of general gordon granger getting to galveston with some 7,000 black troops. and they spread out and told people that the slaves were free. you see president abraham lincoln had declared with the emancipation proclamation that they were free january 1863. right. but it didn t reach texas. until two years later. yeah.