The video below was published in partnership with Peabody Spotlight, a digital series produced by the Peabody Media Center at the University of Georgia in commemoration of Black History Month.

Ain't no party like The Root 100 gala! To quote the great prophet Joanne the Scammer, "Honestly, truly … " The Root 100 gala fills a sprawling, well-decorated room with black philanthropic celebrities, passionate activists, truth-telling artists, hardworking sports stars and more who all have one common goal: sharing…

OK, so I'll admit that maybe "on fleek" is over, but it just felt right describing a celebration of melanin in the room at The Root 100 Gala Monday night. So let me have this, OK?

“I now know what Frederick Douglass felt like in 1876 when Reconstruction came to an end,” says Henry Louis Gates Jr., referring to the recent election and the end of the Obama presidency. He continues, “This clearly for some people is the end of the Second Reconstruction.”