Champion and Advocate for Unity and Freedom and Justice Visits FWCD
Trailblazer, respected civil rights activist, community leader, teacher, counselor, mother, daughter, grandmother … Opal Lee is all of these things and more to the Fort Worth community. When she began her walk in 2016 from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to Juneteenth, the day the Civil War-era Emancipation Proclamation was announced in Galveston, Texas (June 19, 1865; two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincon issued it on January 1, 1863), she became a national treasure. For an extended celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lee recently joined the Fort Worth Country Day community for the second MLK Forum sponsored by the Country Day Institute. She shared her inspiring story and the journey that led to President Joe Biden signing into law on June 19, 2021, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, creating a federal holiday to commemorate Juneteenth. This is the first federal holiday approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983, and the day of the signing marked the 156th anniversary of the last Black enslaved people being freed in Texas.
Spencer Smith, Upper School English Teacher and Founder of the Country Day Institute, introduced Lee to the nearly 150 people who attended the program in person and via Zoom. “To quote philosopher Jennifer Frey from an essay on teaching courage, ‘One of the reasons that King’s activism, in particular, had so much power is that, in the face of hatred and violence, King led a movement that was explicitly non-violent, rooted in ideals of justice, charity, and human dignity,” Smith said. “Tonight’s guest of honor is a living testimony to how personal conviction, courage, and creativity can bring about change. Opal Lee knows, as did Dr. King, that we must look unflinchingly at the past but not allow the besetting, harmful passions to determine the future.”
Following some introductory videos, Lee began the program by inviting all of the students in the audience to come up and sit with her so she could share her book and read to them personally. She read, for the very first time, the Juneteenth: A Children’s Story special edition, that includes the historic establishment of Juneteenth as the 12th federal holiday with pages dedicated to the signing of Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. A Q&A followed moderated by Nicole Masole, Director of Community Engagement and Inclusion at FWCD.
Lee repeated throughout the program: Make yourself a committee of one to help someone, to help your community, to volunteer to help others. “We can do so much more together than separate,” she shared.
Lee, affectionately known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth for leading the charge to see that A National Juneteenth Museum would also become a reality, encouraged involvement in the community to make a difference. Lee’s granddaughter, Dione Sims, representing her grandmother’s nonprofit, Unity Unlimited, spoke about establishing the National Juneteenth Museum.
“I'm still processing what it means to have had such a magnanimous figure on our campus,” Smith said. “For all her accomplishments, accolades, and celebrity associations, she was simply delightful company – humble, generous, sharp, and radiating positivity and personal warmth. Ms. Lee is a living, breathing history lesson whose experience parallels Dr. King's to a phenomenal degree. The MLK Forum exists to revisit Dr. King's message and methods annually; I can't think of a better guest.”
To this day, Lee walks two-and-a-half miles each year on June 19 to make the time between the Emancipation Proclamation and when the news of freedom arrived in Galveston. “Juneteenth is not a Texas thing; it’s not a Black thing. It is freedom for everyone,” Lee said. She also encouraged us all to celebrate from June 19 to July 4, emphasizing that the freedom celebration is for us all.
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