Blog
Opal Lee, the Grandmother of Juneteenth
Blog de Ricardo Martínez, GLAD Law Executive Director (he/him)
In moments of great strife, it is my tendency to go inward. I’m certain it’s a defense mechanism that protects me from anxiety, stress, intellectualizing situations, grieving, and anguish. In the quiet, my solemn contemplation, I seek inspiration to pull me back from challenges, disappointments, and betrayals that the world has thrown at me.
Yesterday, after the heartbreaking Escarcha decisión was announced, I needed time to collect my thoughts, pay attention to my body’s response, and dig deep to reassure myself that despite the loss we experienced I don’t “predicate fighting on winning.”
The catalyst that inspired me to pick my head back up this time was Opal Lee. She is known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth.” She’s a Texan (born in small town Marshal), a retired schoolteacher, a board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF), and an organizer.
For decades, she championed establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Back in 2016, at 88 years old, she began an annual 2.5 mile walk to draw more public attention to the cause. The length of the walk symbolizing the two and a half years it took for news of emancipation to reach Texas. Concurrently, she began a petition to showcase the public’s support for the observance of Juneteenth as a holiday. A year later in 2017, Opal walked 1,400 miles to Washington D.C. – delivering 1.5 million signatures to Congress supporting Juneteenth.
Opal has described herself as a ‘little old lady in tennis shoes getting in everybody’s business.’ But the reality is that her efforts and impact are widely felt. Her approach, defined by her patience, creativity, historical perspective and charisma, galvanized Texans. She had a novel idea, committed time, love, and advocated on the principle that America was founded on: Freedom. Her message was simple and effective – taking her all the way to the White House where on June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Her success did not happen overnight.
So how did Opal Lee snap me back from my reflective pondering? I focused on the lessons her story taught me.
1. A hurtful past can fuel a powerful future: A mob of white supremacists burned her house down on June 19, 1939 when she was 12 years old. Rather than allowing that hurtful experience to be a barrier to advocacy, she instead focused and reclaimed that date to help bring people together to understand the importance of Juneteenth.
2. Tenacity, persistence, and creativity have the power to create change: While our setbacks are real, they are never the end of the story. We keep moving forward, refining our concrete strategies and developing novel tactics to galvanize people to create meaningful and sustainable change. The tide can and will turn.
3. We get so much more done together than apart: Opal Lee has always said none of us are free until we are all free. Ms. Lee is not preaching platitudes; she believes this. She understands the power of community. As do we. We are part of a greater whole – and like all our social justice partners, we contribute to the collective in our areas of specialty – converging in strategic ways to protect the best things about this country – including our intersectional multifaceted identities.
Opal Lee’s perseverance, tenacity, and expressions of love reminded me that we have to remain steadfast in our commitment to achieving justice and equality – regardless of the setbacks.
Beyond the lessons her advocacy taught me, there is much to reflect on as we observe Juneteenth today.
On that day when the last enslaved African ancestors were freed, they were promised a broad range of rights (knows as the 12 freedoms). Those freedoms like personal liberty, access to education, right to legal protection, freedom of movement, access to healthcare have not always been upheld for Black Americans and are now similarly being denied to marginalized groups like transgender people.
As we grieve the Skrmetti decision let us also recognize the ongoing inequality that has long existed in this country for Black Americans. Let us also acknowledge that our struggle is inextricably connected. Let us also celebrate resilience, perseverance, past victories, and lessons learned.
The fight is long from over. We are powerful beyond measure. And as Opal would say “everybody has a part to play.”
Learn more about Opal Lee’s legacy in Fort Worth Texas, in this video on her life’s work and the future of The National Juneteenth Museum.
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