Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19 across the United States, represents the official end of slavery in America. It is also referred to as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, Black Independence Day and Juneteenth National Independence Day.
Slavery was the ownership of Black people, primarily from Africa, who were forced into labor under inhumane conditions. Slaves and their descendants were subjected to cruel treatment with no rights, freedoms, voice or compensation.
The proposal to make Juneteenth a federal holiday was met with many denials, delays and defeats for a variety of reasons. However, there was one person who was unwilling to give up on a national commemoration of the day.
Beginning in 2016, Opal Lee, a Texas community activist and former teacher, had been advocating to make Juneteenth a national holiday. At age 89, she organized the “Opal’s walk to D.C.” campaign, walking 2.5 miles in her tennis shoes in many areas of the country, eventually going from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington D.C., to raise awareness and garner support.
The 2.5 miles represented the time it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced in Texas — 2 1/2 years. She delivered to Congress a petition with 1.5 million signatures collected to support legislation in the Senate and in the House — the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.
She has become known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth.” And it’s important that all Americans know the history and significance of this day.
Hope can show up as millions marching across the country or it can show up as one person.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves. This executive order did not completely abolish slavery as it did not apply to slaves who were identified and held as property. June 19, 1865 is when Major Gen. Gordon Granger traveled to Galveston, Texas to deliver the order announcing the end of slavery: General Order No. 3.
For 2 1/2 years, Black people in Texas had remained in slavery having no knowledge of the Emancipation Proclamation. Significant breakthroughs and news of this kind typically traveled by word of mouth. However, if you were a slave in Galveston, Texas, you did not know it: slaveowners ignored the information and did not share it with the slaves.
Five years ago, America witnessed the killings by police of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the killing of Ahmaud Arbery as he went for a run in a neighborhood in Georgia. These killings ignited a national groundswell of concern, protests, outrage and “wokeness.” This energy and advocacy amplified the need to acknowledge the historical struggles of Black Americans and influenced the signing of the Juneteenth holiday.
On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Juneteenth into law making it a federal holiday. At the White House signing, Biden said, “Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments of the past. They embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away. We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And in remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.”
The famous author and activist James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
The establishment of Juneteenth as a national holiday demonstrates that one person with a vision, one person with a passion, one person with a goal — regardless of age, obstacles or time — can make a difference. That difference can be collecting signatures for a petition, marching in your community, engaging neighbors in the cause and believing in the defeat of the status quo.
Opal Lee represented hope, and she created a model of hope for all of us today. Hope can show up as millions marching across the country or it can show up as one person. It can show up as youths chanting in protests or it can show up as a retiree in sneakers. It can show up as an influencer texting and podcasting about issues or it can show up as an elder sharing a flyer.
Opal Lee is now 98 years old and still participating in Juneteenth events. Today, among social and political unrest, her story can be my story or your story — that against odds, we can prevail. We can overcome. We can become victorious.