FORT WORTH, Texas — The Grandmother of Juneteenth just makes you feel good. Whether she’s inviting you over for a home cooked meal or taking you on a trip down memory lane, Opal Lee’s spirit soothes your soul.
This is what freedom looks like.
This is what freedom feels like.
And for Ms. Opal, it all started with a nudge.
“I just felt like I hadn’t done enough at 89 years old. There ought to be something else I was supposed today,” Lee told Kennedra McDonald, Executive Producer of Texas Today. “I didn’t know what it was. But I’d met at Dr. Ronald Myers. He was a medical doctor, a minister and a jazz musician all rolled into one.”
Dr. Myers was also a civil rights activist adamant about Juneteenth becoming a national holiday. Ms. Opal made the vision reality. She walked from Texas to Washington, D.C. hoping someone would take notice of this grandmother in running shoes.
They took notice alright!
“P. Diddy helped me. We got a million signatures, and we took them to Congress. And later, the president said, ‘We’re gonna make Juneteenth a national holiday.’ I could have done a holy dance. But the kids say when I try that, I’m twerking,” Lee said with a laugh.
Now at 96 years old, we could go on and on about her accomplishments. Her portrait hangs in the Texas Senate Chamber. Crews broke ground this year on the National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth. And she’s now Dr. Opal Lee thanks to an honorary degree from the University of North Texas.
Even more amazing, the Grandmother of Juneteenth isn’t done yet.
“I have to keep moving, because there’s so much to do, so many people who need so many things,” Ms. Lee said. “And if I can supply it, it would be sacrilegious if I didn’t.”
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