Moments after Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president at the Democratic National Convention, Jennifer Hudson delivered a mesmerizing performance of Sam Cooke‘s classic “A Change Is Gonna Come” in her honor. The singer belted her lungs out while dressed in an elegant evening gown, bathed in flickering candlelight at the gorgeous Chicago Cultural Center. It was just Jennifer and a piano accompanist — nothing else needed.
This is the second time that Jennifer has performed at the DNC, the first being in 2016 in support of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Jennifer is a vocal gun control advocate, after losing her brother Jason Judson, her mother Darnell Donerson and her 7-year-old nephew Julian King to gun violence in 2008. She performed with the DC choir at the inaugural March For Our Lives in March 2018, following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“We all came here for change today, right?” the Oscar winner asked the thousands assembled in the nation’s capitol. “We’ve all lost somebody. I’m sure a long time ago, you never thought you’d be standing here today. But we’re all here today for a reason. We all got a story, we all got a purpose, and we all want change.”
Jennifer joins a lineup of other significant artists who leant their time and voices to the Democratic National Convention. Just an hour before her set, Billie Eilish performed “My Future” and urged her young fans to register to vote before the November election. “You don’t need me to tell you things are a mess… Silence is not an option and we can’t sit this one out. We all have to vote like our lives depend on it, because they do,” she said.
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