Tag

Opal Lee

All articles tagged with #opal lee

us-news2 months ago•4 min saved

Opal Lee's 99-year march to a nationwide Juneteenth

Opal Lee, the activist behind Juneteenth's national recognition, spent a lifetime turning local celebration into a national movement—walking 2.5 miles a day from Fort Worth to D.C. to symbolize the delay, gathering signatures that helped spark Juneteenth's 2021 federal holiday status, and sharing her journey in A Committee of One, a memoir/self-help book that frames freedom as a daily practice and calls for expanding Juneteenth celebrations beyond June 19.

via USA Today|

#activism #civil-rights #juneteenth

us-news2 months ago•79 min saved

Nationwide Juneteenth Celebrations Align with Obama Center Opening

Americans across the United States marked Juneteenth with parades, concerts, and community gatherings as celebrations recalled emancipation and Black history, while the Obama Presidential Center opened in Chicago, underscoring ongoing discussions about democracy, memory, and civil rights in the nation's history.

via AP News|

#emancipation #juneteenth #obama-center

human-interest2 years ago•3 min saved

"Opal Lee: Grandmother of Juneteenth Reclaims Family Home 85 Years Later"

Opal Lee, known as the "grandmother of Juneteenth," is reclaiming the land where her childhood home was burned by a racist mob in 1939. After years of wondering about her family's land, Habitat for Humanity gave it to her and is working to build her a new home. Lee's own nonprofit fundraised for the project, and with donations from a construction company and a bank, the home is becoming a reality. The target date for her to move in is June 19, marking both Juneteenth and 85 years since her family was driven out of their home.

via ABC News|

#fort-worth #habitat-for-humanity #human-interest

human-interest2 years ago•2 min saved

Texas Woman Reclaims Land 8 Decades After Racist Mob Drove Her Away

Opal Lee, a retired teacher and community activist, was driven off her land by a racist mob in 1939 when she was 12. More than eight decades later, at the age of 97, she now owns the land again, which was still vacant and owned by the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The CEO of Trinity Habitat for Humanity offered to give her the property and work with donors to put a house on her land for free, with plans to have it ready for her to move in by her 99th birthday.

via CBS News|

#fort-worth #human-interest #juneteenth