Opal Lee kicks off another year of Juneteenth celebrations
FORT WORTH, Texas - An ecumenical service marked the start of Juneteenth celebrations in Fort Worth.
The 21-year-long tradition included prayer, reverence and performers.
Opal Lee and her granddaughter, Dione Sims, were special honored guests on Friday.
"Because of your determination, America now recognizes that our freedom and our success did not just arrive today, but it arrived on June 19, 1865," said pastor Charlie Nickerson.
"Before we start a whole month of celebrating Juneteenth, we acknowledge him," Sims told the crowd. "For the Bible tells us that if we acknowledge the Lord in all of our ways, then he will direct our path."
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For close to 50 years, Lee has passionately promoted Juneteenth, championing in 2021 its current status as a national holiday.
Lee now continues the mission around the world. Her recent 10-day trip to Japan celebrated the first-ever planned international Juneteenth walk.
"I love Japan! I’m going back as soon as I get the chance," she said. "I hope everybody understands that is what Juneteenth is all about: freedom and loving one another and doing for each person."
Here at home in Fort Worth, the month will mean a lineup of Juneteenth events, including new editions like a film festival and a closing weekend of concerts with national recording artists.
A key difference this year is the annual walk’s location. It will take place in Dallas and is the start of a long-range vision.
90-year-old woman walking 1,300 miles to D.C.
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Opal Lee, the Grandmother of Juneteenth, was among the 6,700 graduates who walked the stage over the weekend.
"This year, we are walking with Dr. Harry Robinson and the African American Museum of Dallas," Sims said. "She’s the grandmother of Juneteenth for the nation. And so being able to move her about the country because it’s my goal for her to be walking in DC in 2026 when the nation turns 250. So Dallas is our first stop out of Fort Worth."
From Fort Worth and now across the globe.
"It’s not a Texas thing. It’s not just a Black thing. It’s not black-and-white. It’s the right thing," Lee said. "It’s about humanity and the ability to know another person‘s story."
The Tex Factor: The Journey of Opal Lee
Opal Lee is an author, a teacher, a civil rights activist, and she’s known as "The Grandmother of Juneteenth." The Tex Factor sat down with the 96-year-old Fort Worth resident to learn about her life-long journey helping others. And how, at 89, she started a nationwide movement that would result in Juneteenth becoming a national holiday.