President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery on January 1, 1963. But it wasn’t until more than two years later – on June 19, 1965 – that enslaved people in the state of Texas were finally told that they were free. The anniversary of that day has become known as Juneteenth.

This Juneteenth, 2020, America is in the midst of a racial reckoning. A pandemic is disproportionately killing Black Americans, and violence against Black people continues to be caught on camera, sparking cries for change.

Into America host Trymaine Lee convened a special panel for NBC News Now called Can You Hear Us Now: Juneteenth. He and his panelists wrestled with America’s core question of freedom, and whether this dream can and will ever be a reality for Black Americans.

Guests included: Dr. Peniel Joseph, from the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at UT-Austin; playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith; Tiffany Crutcher, whose twin brother Terence Crutcher killed by police in 2016; Wes Moore, of the Robin Hood Foundation; and NBC BLK reporter Janell Ross.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica.

Further Reading:

• Into an American Uprising: Can You Hear Us Now?
• How Juneteenth's history is being reshaped as America reckons with its past
• From Juneteenth to the Tulsa massacre: What isn't taught in classrooms has a profound impact
• From Amazon to JPMorgan, here's the list of companies honoring Juneteenth

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