Dr. Opal Lee is celebrating Juneteenth the same way she’s spent much of the last century: by teaching, organizing, and reminding Americans that freedom is bigger than a single day. As the nation marks 161 years since the events that gave rise to the holiday, the 99-year-old activist known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” is sharing her story — and her hard-earned wisdom — in her new book, A Committee of One.
Part memoir and part guide to community activism, the book arrives five years after Lee stood at the White House as President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The annual observance commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people in the state were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
For Lee, the journey to that moment stretched across decades. The longtime educator and counselor became the face of the modern Juneteenth movement after launching her symbolic Walk for Freedom in 2016. At age 89, she began walking 2.5 miles to represent the two-and-a-half years it took for news of emancipation to reach Texas.
Her efforts helped fuel a petition that collected more than 1.6 million signatures before Juneteenth officially became a national holiday in 2021.
But Lee’s advocacy began long before Washington took notice. She spent years helping struggling families in Fort Worth, operating a food pantry and creating opportunities for formerly incarcerated residents.
In 2024, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, adding another honor to a résumé that also includes a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Habitat for Humanity even rebuilt a home for Lee on the same land where a racist mob destroyed her family’s house in 1939.
“There are those who've gone before us, those who have taken that time to pass things on to us in a manner that we learn, and so it's our responsibility to see that others learn from us,” Lee told USA TODAY. “We have to take our time with them. It's as simple as that.”
That philosophy has shaped nearly every chapter of her life. In her memoir, Lee recalls the trauma of losing her family home at age 12, writing, “I’d spend the next 85 years doing everything I could to highlight the good I still believe exists in this world.”
Juneteenth celebrations have evolved far beyond Texas, with parades, cookouts, festivals, and historical events taking place nationwide. Lee hopes Americans see the holiday as something larger than Black history alone.
“When I practice freedom, I tell you, it’s for everybody,” she said. “Help them learn that there’s more to life than just their little pond that they’re swimming in.”
