Juneteenth has taken national significance from its roots in Texas, marking a moment in history, dating 160 years back, when the enslaved were made aware of their freedom. The day has been propelled into the national consciousness largely due to the persistent efforts of personalities such as Opal Lee, a proud Texan symbol, who worked tirelessly to raise awareness of this day and its relevance not only to African Americans, but the entirety of the United States.
In 2016, when Lee was 89 years old, she embarked on a 1,400 miles long march from Fort Worth to the country’s capital, to make sure the conversation around Juneteenth reached a wider audience. Lee’s efforts earned her the apt title of the ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’, as much in honor of her extensive work as it is of the day itself.
Unexpectedly, upon turning 89, Lee felt she hadn’t done enough. It was an extraordinary revelation coming from an individual who had juggled education and bringing up of four children in the rigid societal structures of the 1950s Texas. Subsequently becoming a teacher in the racially segregated Fort Worth school system, she struggled financially to meet basic needs, managing to do so only by laboring in a second job during nighttime.
For the past half-century, Lee has managed a food bank, thereby providing sustenance to countless people unable to afford it themselves. Within the last few years, she initiated a farm along the Trinity River, ensuring that those without could have access to fresh produce. This was Lee’s symbol of a life lived for altruistic intent.
Lee, a revered civil rights figurehead from North Texas, expressed humble bewilderment upon hearing that 33 members from the Congress, including over a dozen Texans, had nominated her, the ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’, for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. Her modest surprise bespoke volumes about her unassuming, devoted nature.
In 1939, tragically, at just 12 years old, Lee’s family home in Fort Worth was set alight and razed by a mob of 500 white supremacists. Despite her struggle, Lee’s dedication to the cause remained unwavering. The 97-year-old still bears a smile, a living testament to a life lived with resilience, bravery, and passion.
Her homecoming was welcomed with tearful applause, warmth, and undeniable respect, marking a poignant chapter in her journey as the Grandmother of Juneteenth. In excess of three years following the inception of a plan to build a National Juneteenth Museum, land has been successfully acquired in Fort Worth.
With the city’s agreement, a property will be leased to the museum, which is located on the south side of the city where the Southside Community Center currently resides. The museum will make annual payments of $1 for the duration of the 40-year lease. The establishment marks a definitive step towards a national embrace of Juneteenth’s history and importance.
Often referred to as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth memorializes the day the final enslaved personnel in Texas received their freedom. This freedom was formally announced by Union Army Major General Gordon Granger, delivering an official decree from the federal government declaring the liberation of all enslaved individuals.
The order, dated June 19, 1865, serves as an enforcement mechanism of the Emancipation Proclamation, originally signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863. It was on this day in June when Major Gen. Gordon Granger publicly read this federal document in Galveston that signified the beginning of the enforcement in Texas.
The Emancipation Proclamation, initially signed by President Abraham Lincoln over two years prior, became the foundation of what would eventually evolve into Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the day when freedmen in Texas finally became aware of their emancipation, marking the cessation of slavery following the Civil War.