WASHINGTON (AP) — The six Black members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet met for a Black History Month event Thursday highlighting their roles in the administration, some of which are historic firsts.
Watch the roundtable in the player above.
The White House said the six heads of big federal departments and smaller agencies would take part in a moderated roundtable discussion to highlight the importance of Black leadership in the military, foreign affairs, the economy and other key policy areas.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first Black person in the post; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge; Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Regan, the first Black man in that role; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; and Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers spoke during the roundtable. Rouse is the first Black woman to lead the council.
Biden issued a proclamation in January designating February as National Black History Month. He wrote that the observance “serves as both a celebration and a powerful reminder that Black history is American history, Black culture is American culture, and Black stories are essential to the ongoing story of America — our faults, our struggles, our progress, and our aspirations.”
Biden and his wife, Jill, and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, and other members of the Cabinet will host commemorative activities throughout February focused on the theme “Black Health and Wellness,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
U.S. Secret Service agents hustled Emhoff away from a Black History Month event within minutes of his arrival Tuesday at Dunbar High School in Washington because of a bomb threat.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sa7SZ6arn1%2Bjsri%2Fx6isq2egpLmqwMicqmivkamwqXnLoq2eZZKhrqS3jJugnZ2eYq6lucinoKysopbBqrvNZpqampmjsrV5zJ6km52iqHqpu8udZJploqTCr7DTmpmlnV2ku265wKSgp59dl7mir8pmn6KrpKS%2Fug%3D%3D