‘Byron Allen Presents Juneteenth’ honors Black trailblazers

Natasha S. Alford, Touré, LeVar Burton, Tamron Hall, Kevin Frazier, Jon Kelley, Loni Love and Shaun Robinson join Byron Allen in the educational and entertaining special.

“Byron Allen Presents Juneteenth: Celebrating Centuries of Black Excellence” took the weekend by storm.

The TV special — presented by the founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, the parent company of theGrio — spans decades of Black excellence, with familiar faces taking deep dives into some of the most influential figures in Black and American history.

The show, which aired over the weekend on theGrio cable network, honored civil rights figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, musical trailblazers like Little Richard and Whitney Houston, acting legends like Whoopi Goldberg and Sidney Poitier, along with others. The special also fused footage of some of these icons with powerful animation, plus narration from pretty big faces in media.

Allen is joined in “Juneteenth: Celebrating Centuries of Black Excellence” by theGrio’s own Natasha S. Alford and Touré, plus prominent TV celebrities like LeVar Burton, Tamron Hall, Kevin Frazier, Jon Kelley, Loni Love and Shaun Robinson. Each person guides the viewing audience through major milestones and moments in their lives, creating a fully immersive, educational and entertaining experience.

For example, Alford — who serves as vice president of digital content and a senior correspondent at theGrio — took viewers into an in-depth look at Academy Award winner Halle Berry’s history-making career, someone whose achievements served as personal motivators.

“You and I and everyone have something in common: We all have a dream, which is why it’s always so inspiring to see someone who makes her dreams come true, someone like Halle Berry,” she explained as footage of Berry is featured.

“From her historic Oscar win for ‘Monster’s Ball’ in 2002, to portraying the comic book heroine Storm, to playing arguably the most memorable Bond girl ever,” Alford continued, “Halle shattered the shameful glass ceiling that limited every Black actress before her.”

Check out the clip below.

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“Byron Allen Presents Juneteenth: Celebrating Centuries of Black Excellence” will re-air on theGrio TV every Saturday night through the end of July at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.

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