Empowerment Congress Juneteenth Day of Dialogue
The Universe looks favorably on the City of Los Angeles for Juneteenth. We were fortunate to be granted three days to celebrate Juneteenth in the City of Angels.
By Ricky Richardson | Contributing Writer
(Los Angeles, CA) The Universe looks favorably on the City of Los Angeles for Juneteenth. We were fortunate to be granted three days to celebrate Juneteenth in the City of Angels.
The festivities got underway on Saturday, June 14, 2025. Several Juneteenth celebrations were held throughout the city.
The celebrations continued on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Massive crowds were in attendance for the event on this actual Federal holiday.
Two days later, Angelenos continued to have options for the extended celebration of Juneteenth, scheduled on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
Juneteenth Day of Dialogue Participants, Staff, and Volunteers, (Photo by Ricky Richardson)
Hundreds were in attendance for the Empowerment Congress Juneteenth Day of Dialogue, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. The event was held at the transformative campus of The Beehive, 1000 E. 60th Street in South Los Angeles. This turned out to be a day of thought-provoking dialogue, engaging resource fair, delicious food, and soulful, stirring music.
Guests congregated during breakfast for some engaging networking and socializing. Rhythms Arts Alliance got the program underway with the pulsating and spirited sounds of West African drumming.
Welcome remarks were provided by Tavis Smiley who served as emcee of this dynamic Day of Dialogue. “Educate Engage and Empower: Resilience in the Face of Chaos is this year’s theme for Juneteenth. Tavis Smiley is the host of “Tavis Smiley” on KBLA Talk 1580, the flagship radio station of Smiley Audio Media, Inc.
Empowerment Congress CO-Chairs Gloria J. Davis and Henry McElroy provided a brief history of the Empowerment Congress and an overview of the Day of Dialogue program. The event attracted several Women’s basketball players from USC as well as USC Men’s basketball players.
The Beehive was LIT! Maya Wiley fired up the crowd with a keynote speech of encouragement and hope. Maya Wiley spoke of the lesson learned about resilience from her parents and grandparents. Maya Wiley shared how she is passing on the legacy of resilience to her kids. Mya Wiley concluded her powerful and impactful speech with “When we Aspire; We Inspire.” Maya Wiley is the President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. Maya Wiley has written opinion editorials and is a former legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Maya Wiley is the author of the memoir Remember You Are A Wiley.
The Young Shakespeareans performance arts presentation was entitled We Dream a World. Their motto is “If I Can Do Shakespeare, I Can Do Anything.” The Young Shakespeareans is the only organization delivering on-site after-school theatre arts programs with full-production student performances.
The program shifted to Dialogues, an engaging and interactive session. A facilitator led discussions of this year’s theme “Educate, Engage and Empower: Resilience in the Face of Chaos.”
Paige Bryan, (Photo by Ricky Richardson)
Let’s get this party with a purpose started. The Juneteenth celebration was on. Singer and songwriter Paige Bryan served as emcee of this section of the program. Guests enjoyed a delicious lunch from Shef’s Catering. Superb entertainment was provided by Upward Mobility. They performed a selection of Freedom Songs during their two crowd-pleasing sets. Freedom Singing was a vital part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s (SNCC) community organizing traditions. The songs often borrowed from traditional church songs, helped thaw some of the fear that locals had towards the Movement.
Jana Johnson, Programming Director and Training at Tree Yoga Experience led a class of impactful Yoga with guests from the comfort of their chairs.
History of Days of Dialogue- in 1995, Los Angeles’ deeply divided reaction to the verdict in the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson underscored how far apart the diverse communities of Los Angeles and the nation stand on some basic issues. As a result, then-Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas called together a meeting of civic leaders and community activists to diffuse escalating tensions. Out of this was born an innovative, non-partisan initiative, Los Angeles’s first citywide discussion—A Day of Dialogue on Race Relations.
Since then, thousands of people both locally and nationally, have participated in Days of Dialogue programs; from political Town Hall forums in large civic auditoriums to small group meetings in neighborhood libraries, schools, churches, and fire stations.
For more information about Days of Dialogue, contact The Institute for Nonviolence Los Angeles, Days of Dialogue, at https://daysofdialogue.org and follow Empowerment Congress on all social media platforms for recaps of programs (photos/videos) and to find out about upcoming events and programs.
