I Interviewed The Grandmother Of Juneteenth, Ms. Opal Lee, And Here's What She Had To Say About Activism In 2022

Ms. Opal Lee is a legend.

To be honest, I hadn't heard of Juneteenth before a few years ago. When I was young, in the early '90s, I recall my father acknowledging Freedom Day, which we recognized on New Year's Day. However, that's mainly because I was raised above the Mason-Dixon.

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The roots of Juneteenth, or June 19th, began in Texas. Two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, federal soldiers arrived in Galveston to ensure all enslaved people were free. They weren't. In fact, there were some slaveowners who moved to Texas in order to keep their enslaved population ignorant of their own freedom. June 19 commemorates the day the federal soldiers arrived in Galveston. And while slavery didn't simply just vanish on June 19, 1865, the date is symbolic. 

Those raised in the South were much more familiar with Juneteenth than I was. It wasn't until I moved to Florida that I started to hear about the holiday. It was there that I also learned of Ms. Opal Lee.

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Ms. Opal Lee is an educator, activist, and icon who is often called The Grandmother of Juneteenth. Her passion and perseverance helped ensure Juneteenth was made into a national holiday. 

Ms. Opal Lee spent decades organizing Juneteenth movements after she retired in the late 1970s from being an educator. After establishing the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society and co-founding the Citizens Concerned With Human Dignity (CCHD), Ms. Lee decided to take things to a national level.

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In 2016, she started a symbolic walking campaign in cities that led a path from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, to the Capitol. Her mission was to draw attention to Juneteenth, in an effort to make it a national holiday. For years, Ms. Opal Lee would organize a walk of 2.5 miles to honor the 2.5 years it took for freedom to reach Galveston, Texas. But this walk to DC was MUCH more ambitious.

This historic walk shook the nation... Her campaign went viral, and she garnered 1.5 million signatures on a petition for Congress to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

I was blessed to be able to speak with Ms. Opal Lee, a moment I truly will never forget. She was filled with so much energy and vigor as her slightly raspy but warm and welcoming voice responded to my questions.

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Karlton Jahmal: Why is Juneteenth so important to you?

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Ms. Opal Lee: "Because it means freedom. And we're not free yet. We've got some disparities that need to be addressed. And first, we need to decide we are one body one people."

KJ: Why do you think it took so long for Juneteenth to be recognized on a federal level?

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OL: "We kept it to ourselves. We thought it was ours. The Black folk in Texas thought it belonged to them, but freedom belongs to everyone."

KJ: What's the most important message you have for this generation of civil rights activists?

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OL: "It's not easy convincing people that freedom is for everybody. I don't know how to give that message over, that we still have so many things that need to be attended to before we can say we're free. And so it's the young people, everyone under 95 is young people, must accept the fact that we are one people. We all bleed red blood. I think some of us got to close to the sun and others didn't... If we just accept the fact we are one people."

KJ: Do you think elections and voting are the best way for Black people to make change in America?

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OL: "Voting is the best thing you can do. But you got to know who to vote for. And you can't be the only someone — you got to take someone else with you. It's a thing; it's a process where every person who is eligible needs to go to the polls. So if you have a neighbor, take him or take her. You need to know people well enough to know if they're registered to vote. Older people like me need help when it comes to voting. Somebody needs to tell them what the issues are and who can lead us out of the quagmire we're in."

KJ: What is one of the biggest issues you see today when it comes to the turmoil in America?

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OL: "We need to educate people. I don't think we would have killing like it is if the people were educated. Parents know when they have children that have problems and they need attention. The people who have guns and things, parents are shutting them off to the grandparents. It's ridiculous. Education is what we need to teach people their self-worth. You can't leave it with the teachers to do all of it. It needs to start in the home."

KJ: What was it like being called up to the White House?

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OL: "We took 1,000,500 signatures to Congress, and when we got the call to go to the White House, I tell you! I never dreamed this would happen in my lifetime."

KJ: How does it feel to accomplish everything you've done in your lifetime?

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OL: "It feels awful good, but you realize you can't rest on your laurels because there are so many other things we need to get done. We're not free yet. Education, healthcare, homelessness, joblessness, climate change...all these things need to be addressed before we're free. People don't seem to understand that there were civilizations before ours that no longer exist, and the same thing can happen to us. I hope we don't all go to hell in a handbasket because we don't work together."

KJ: Is there anything you want to add? Something you want readers to take with them and stick with them?

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OL: "I hope people understand that each of us is responsible for each other of us. Working together is how we can accomplish getting rid of the atrocities that we have now. We can do this; we're the richest country in the world. I just want people to know it's our responsibility to make this a world-class United States."

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.*

Make sure you head here for more of our Juneteenth coverage!

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