Opal Lee leads annual Walk For Freedom in Dallas

Opal Lee, the 97-year-old Texan known as the 'Grandmother of Juneteenth,' led the annual Walk For Freedom in Dallas to commemorate the two and a half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn of their freedom. President Biden hailed her as a key figure in the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, marks the day in 1865 when African American slaves in Galveston, Texas, were among the last to be informed of their freedom, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Opal Lee, a former teacher and activist, walked from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. at 89 years old to advocate for Juneteenth as a national holiday. She continues to walk two and a half miles each year on June 19 to symbolize the gap between emancipation and the news reaching Galveston. Juneteenth serves as a day to reflect on the legacy of slavery and promote unity and education about this dark chapter in American history. Lee hopes the federal holiday will foster national unity and prevent such atrocities from happening again.