Jun 20, 2024
To celebrate Opal Lee in Fort Worth was the honor of a lifetime. We stand on her shoulders as we work to unleash the power of Black women across the country.
On Thursday, June 20, 1K Women Strong hosted a Juneteenth celebratory breakfast in honor of trailblazing community-builder Dr. Opal Lee. At Spirit of Prayer Ministries' Our Father’s Kitchen, we organized performances and speeches by organizing fellows and team members.
The day before, we joined Dr. Lee for her annual 2.5-mile Walk for Freedom in Dallas, Texas. The march recognizes the 2.5 years it took for the news and enforcement of freedom to reach enslaved people in Texas.
Dr. Lee is a retired teacher, counselor and activist in the movement to make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday. She is often described as the "grandmother of Juneteenth.” In 2021, President Joe Biden signed Senate Bill S. 475, making Juneteenth the eleventh federal holiday. Then, in 2024, Biden awarded Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian honor.
Dr. Lee's vision, hard work and tenacity shows us the way.