(Washington D.C. – June 10, 2024)
Imagine it.
200 people dancing.
And not just random dances; they are all doing the same one.
On the lawn.
— And not just any lawn. — The south lawn of the most iconic building in the world.
— The White House.
These 200 individuals are the current heirs of a history mottled in pain; the descendants of decades of coerced degradation; the progeny of a culture unjustly tied to struggle;
the offspring of a people oppressed.
Their forefathers could not imagine crossing the gates to enter — at least not as guests. Workers, sure. But as guests — honored guests? Esteemed guests? Respected guests? Distinguished guests?
This was a future unimagined by their forefathers. Yet here
they were. Enjoying drinks and food and celebrating a moment in our nation’s history that was not our proudest, but which we have used as a beacon of inspiration to the testament of progress, togetherness, and unity.
This progress can be summed up with one name: Juneteenth.
So as the thousands assembled and the guests sang and entertained the President of the United States and his distinguished guests, we all had the chance to witness a moment of utter jubilation: nearly 200 of these distinguished guests of honor, all breaking out in unison in a line dance. It was the embodiment of umoja. It was the essence of ubuntu.
On the stage that day it was amazing to see gospel megastar Kirk Franklin play the role of the ultimate hype man, go off the stage, pull Vice President Kamala Harris to her feet, encouraging her to move to the beat.
As Patti LaBelle took the stage and serenaded us with her timeless selections, I thought about our growth as a nation.
An Emotionally Intelligent Nation.
A nation who took a hard look at itself and realized that she wanted better for her legacy and for her people. A nation who did not just stop at taking a simple inventory but over the following 150 years began to implement changes and policies, each new one building on the success and precedent of the one before it, ever striving towards the pinnacle of equity, equality and equanimity.
Our Nation realized that others around the globe might be experiencing the same sort of dynamics, and
thus took the steps to help alleviate the pangs of others.
–These tenets are the four core principles of emotional intelligence.
And as our nation surges forward into the future, we can rest assured that we are becoming more connected. More united. More in touch with our own needs as well as the needs of others. And more adept at helping each other experience the fulfillment of those needs.
Collectively, we are becoming an even greater Emotionally Intelligent Nation.
My name is Rodney C. Burris. I am the White House Correspondent for BMORENews, a media outlet in Baltimore where our slogan is, “the news before the news.” This column
will look at the events impacting our nation and filter them through the lens of Emotional Intelligence theory. Our goal will be to inform, to make aware, to facilitate connectivity, and then to increase the overall understanding of ourselves as a collective as we take a deep dive into the topics affecting our Emotionally Intelligent Nation.
