DUNCANVILLE – As we celebrate Black History Month, the city of Duncanville is embracing the opportunity to spend some time with one of the most recognizable and revered people in North Texas, Opal Lee.
And the woman known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” did not disappoint as she shared her message of freedom and love.
Dozens of people packed the D.L. Hopkins Jr. Senior Center in Duncanville on Thursday to meet and hear from the 97-year-old local legend.
“I think these young people here in Duncanville, and I know it’s a senior citizens center, but anyone under 97 is a young person, and so they’re wanting to hear, I think, about freedom and Juneteenth,” said Lee. “And I’m willing to tell them what I know.”
Juneteenth is the day commemorating the date, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation when slaves in Texas learned they were free.
Lee worked for decades to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. More than two and a half years ago, her dream came true.