Opal Lee, 95, Helped Raise Awareness of Juneteenth Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.
The Grandmother of Juneteenth Launched a Movement
How activist Opal Lee helped turn a cherished tradition into our newest national holiday
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RAMBO A retired teacher from Fort Worth, Texas, Opal Lee has advocated for the recognition of Juneteenth as an important day in history. Although the Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves in Southern states to be free in 1863, it took two more years for the news to spread to Texas and for officials there to announce, on June 19, 1865, that slavery had been abolished. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Last year Lee got her wish: Juneteenth was declared a national holiday. This year the 95-year-old Lee will continue her tradition of leading Opal’s Walk for Freedom, a multicity fundraising walk of 2.5 miles, to recognize the 2.5 years it took for the news of freedom to reach enslaved people throughout the country. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Opal Lee: Have you ever had a gut feeling about something? I felt, positively, like I hadn’t done enough with my life. I’d finished college, gotten a master’s degree, taught school, worked as a social worker, had children. We had a farm. Our food bank served 500 families a day. I was volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. But even into my 80s, I had a nagging feeling that I should be doing more. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. was a day everybody ought to know about: the day in 1865 when the last of the people held in bondage in Texas learned they were free. So, in 2016, I began a march from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to draw attention to Juneteenth. I didn’t walk the whole way, but I did make it to Washington. In 2019, I started a petition, and we garnered 1.5 million signatures in favor of the holiday. People talked about it. And, of course, the death of George Floyd and the demonstrations for social justice that followed have helped draw attention to the cause. The fact that Juneteenth became a national holiday in my lifetime — I’m still on cloud nine. I could do a holy dance except they’d say I was twerking! Older people don’t always remember this, but we have power. We have so much to teach the younger generations. I know some people are afraid. They don’t want to be bothered, or they draw into themselves. But the future depends on us. We can’t be satisfied with just having Juneteenth made into law. We’ve got joblessness, homelessness, health care, climate change. If we don’t address these things, nobody’s going to. We have to educate, because the books don’t always tell the truth. I’ve seen pictures in textbooks of Black folks picking cotton, and they almost looked like they were enjoying themselves. I picked cotton, and ain’t nothing enjoyable about it. You have to stand up and say, “These things cannot happen anymore.” 95-Year-Old Turns Juneteenth Trauma Into U.S. Holiday Lately, you hear talk about our differences, but under our skin we are the same. We bleed red blood, all of us. Freedom isn’t something just for Black people to celebrate. It’s for everybody. I’d like to see our country celebrate freedom from Juneteenth to the Fourth of July. Now that would be a celebration! If each one of us could convince one person who’s not on the same page, we could do it. It’s not gonna happen in a day or a week. We have to work on it. Slowly. Persistently. That’s how change happens. — As told to David Hochman MORE FROM AARP AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS