CBS News Will Observe Juneteenth With Special Interviews And Features

As the nation pauses to observe Juneteenth, CBS News will offer special features and interviews marking this important day in history in the United States, commemorating the anniversary of the end of slavery. CBS News will take a look at where the country stands today and examine this watershed moment after the death of George Floyd, as the country confronts systemic racism and policing in America.

The programming will be featured throughout CBS News on television, on CBS News Radio, on CBSN, the division's 24/7 digital streaming news service, and online starting Friday, June 19, and extending throughout the weekend.

"Juneteenth is a period of critical reflection, introspection and inflection for all of us," said Kim Godwin, CBS News' executive vice president of news. "This is an important moment in time for the country to stop and look at the meaning of this day and focus on where we go from here."

Here's a look at the special Juneteenth features:

CBS THIS MORNING - (Friday, 7:00-9:00 AM, ET)

• CBS News special correspondent James Brown reports on the history of Juneteenth and the push by Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to make it a national holiday, and talks with a family about the importance of the 155th anniversary.

• Omar Villafranca takes a close look at the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 and builds on CBS News' extensive reporting on the event, which has been featured on 60 MINUTES and CBS SUNDAY MORNING. Villafranca, who first reported from Greenwood in 2019, looks at how modern-day African-American Tulsa residents in the Greenwood district are doing emotionally and financially compared to 1921. In 1921, white Tulsans descended on the thriving district of the city and killed hundreds of Black residents and burned THE NEIGHBORHOOD to the ground. He also spoke with an anthropologist who explains how the trauma of 1921 "still lingers in the social, spiritual, political, economic consciousness" of modern-day Tulsa.

CBS EVENING NEWS WITH NORAH O'DONNELL (Friday, 6:30-7:00 PM, ET)

• CBS News national correspondent Jericka Duncan looks at how local communities and private companies across the country are moving to commemorate the day. Duncan speaks with a 93-year-old community leader who, years ago, began a walking campaign from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., in an effort to raise awareness and have the day recognized as a national holiday.

60 MINUTES (Sunday, 7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT)

• Correspondent Lesley Stahl talks with Medaria Arradondo, chief of the Minneapolis police department, about race, racism and the impact of the death of George Floyd on the future of his department.

FACE THE NATION

• FACE THE NATION's coverage of race relations and police reform in America continued with Margaret Brennan's online interview with criminal law expert and professor Angela Davis, where Davis called for the "reimagination" and "dismantling" of policing in America. On Sunday, FACE THE NATION will cover the latest to come out of the Trump campaign's rally in Tulsa, Okla., and reflect on the Juneteenth anniversary.

CBS News Radio

• Correspondent Allison Keys hosts REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK on the importance of Juneteenth, and will be talking with affiliated stations on the celebrations. CBS News Radio will continue with the one-hour weekend special AMERICA: CHANGED FOREVER, which this week focuses on Juneteenth and features interviews with civil rights leader Nina Turner about the history of the day, its significance now, as well as her role as both a civil rights activist and mother of an active-duty police officer and wife of a retired police officer. The hour also includes an interview with NMAAHC (National Museum of African American History and Culture) historian John Franklin who discusses the historical context of Juneteenth and its relationship to oppression of black people throughout history to the current day.

NEWSPATH

• Correspondent Danya Bacchus will report on how Juneteenth is sometimes known as America's "other" Independence Day, and will look at how several states and prominent corporations have made June 19 a paid holiday. Now, against a backdrop of protests against racism and brutality, activists are pushing to make it nationally recognized. Bacchus talks with the president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation about the mission.

CBSN

• CBSN, CBS News' free 24/7 streaming news service, will report throughout the day and weekend with coverage of events across the U.S. and guests including the New York Times' Jamelle Bouie.

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