There’s much to celebrate this week as the countdown to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration winds down, but we also have much to mourn. If you don’t personally know someone who’s lost their life or livelihood to COVID-19, you almost definitely know someone who knows someone.
The number of American deaths attributed to COVID-19 is fast-approaching 400k, while the total number of confirmed cases has surpassed 24 million, numbers we likely could have avoided had the pandemic been appropriately addressed in its earliest stages. As the administration gears up for major changes under President-elect Biden’s leadership – including actual plans for a coordinated vaccination process and increasing testing and treatment accessibility – the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) will be hosting a memorial service in honor of all of the lives lost over the last year as a result of the coronavirus.
Cities across America are invited to join Washington, D.C. in a lighting ceremony by lighting up buildings and ringing church bells as the nation’s capitol lights up around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, aiming to create a national moment of unity and remembrance – one that you can join right here.
The memorial service streams at 5:30pm EST on Tuesday, January 19, and joins America United: An Inauguration Welcome Event Celebrating America’s Changemakers and United We Serve: A Celebration of the National MLK Day of Service in the lineup of official inaugural week events offered virtually to all at home, offering a way for Americans to come together to participate in ways most people have never been able to before.
Check back in on Wednesday, January 20 to stream the official inauguration ceremonies, right here on Her Campus.