Wednesday 20 January 2021
Bill Clinton playing saxophone with musicians onstage, with Kenny Rogers and Judy Collins behind him, during the DC Armory Ball during inaugural week
Diana Walker / The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images
In years past, Inauguration week in Washington D.C. was a time of frenetic social activity. A roving feast of galas, balls, cocktail parties, receptions and brunches exploded in the city as thousands of donors, diplomats and tourists filed into the U.S. capital. But this Inauguration week is unlike any other before it. Black tie balls have been replaced with soldiers in battle fatigues and the legions of delegates from across the nation are represented by a field of flags. Between the attacks on the Capitol on 6 January and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the festive spirit in Washington D.C. is decidedly muffled.
November 29, 1976 – August 28, 2020
Actor, director, and playwright Chadwick Boseman skyrocketed into the spotlight with his role as Jackie Robinson in the 2013 film
42. He went on to star as James Brown (
Get On Up, 2014) and Thurgood Marshall (
Marshall, 2017), and then became an icon in his own right with his 2018 portrayal of T’Challa in
Black Panther the first Black Marvel superhero. Boseman credited his work ethic to his Anderson, South Carolina, upbringing, and told
G&G in a 2017 interview, “the Southern part of me is always going to come out. It doesn’t matter where you live, or where you’ve been, there’s certain stuff you keep.”