On Juneteenth, descendants of America's Black changemakers speak out about preserving ancestors' legacy

On Juneteenth, descendants of America's Black changemakers speak out about preserving ancestors' legacy.

For enslaved Africans in America, the idea of freedom was just a dream. After hundreds of years of struggle, first for freedom, and then civil rights, the date marking the official end of slavery in 1865 -- June 19 -- was declared a federal holiday. As the nation prepares to observe Juneteenth for the first time, ABC News spoke to descendants of leaders in the Black community including those of abolitionist Frederick Douglass; educator and reformer Booker T. Washington; journalist and activist Ida B. Wells; and civil rights leader Malcolm X -- who say their ancestors risked their lives for the rights of future generations. They said they are trying to honor their ancestors' legacies by writing and teaching about lesser-known or repressed parts of U.S. history and establishing new initiatives to educate the next generation properly. In doing so, they have become what they say had been their ancestors' wildest dreams.