{"id":314828,"date":"2026-05-30T01:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T01:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/314828\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T01:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T01:37:24","slug":"opal-lee-releasing-new-memoir-ahead-of-juneteenth-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/314828\/","title":{"rendered":"Opal Lee releasing new memoir ahead of Juneteenth holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2nb8uoxdfb58tffd.jpg\" alt=\"Opal Lee releasing new memoir ahead of Juneteenth\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">FORT WORTH, Texas &#8211; A new book from the &#8220;Grandmother of Juneteenth&#8221; is coming out before this year&#8217;s federal holiday.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KDFW\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Opal Lee, who led the charge for making Juneteenth a federal holiday, has a new memoir releasing in June.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Titled A Committee of One: How Faith + Action = A PurposeFULL Life, it comes out on June 2 and will discuss the pivotal moments from her life as a teacher, an activist, and a humanitarian.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p-dionne-opal-lee-update-4p_00.02.51.00.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Juneteenth was made a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, two days before the holiday. The holiday commemorates the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Lee will also be participating in the annual 2.5-mile Juneteenth walk in Fort Worth, though at 99, she will be riding along rather than walking herself.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p-dionne-opal-lee-update-4p_00.02.33.10.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KDFW\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;She\u2019s one of those people who sees a need, and finds a way to meet it, and I\u2019m just proud to continue that legacy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Lee&#8217;s granddaughter, Dione Sims, has been helping her grandmother with her endeavors for more than 10 years, is excited for the book&#8217;s release.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p-dionne-opal-lee-update-4p_00.02.16.46.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;This book should be on the New York Times bestseller list, and those of you out there listening should go and get it because it\u2019s off the chain!&#8221; Sims told FOX 4&#8217;s Dionne Anglin.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Despite making fewer appearances in recent years due to health reasons, Sims says her grandmother can&#8217;t wait to take part in this year&#8217;s Juneteenth walk.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;We are inviting everybody to come out and walk with her.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p-dionne-opal-lee-update-4p_00.01.56.26.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Sims hopes that a Juneteenth walk is something every state in the U.S. has some day;walks are scheduled in Texas, California, Oregon, Illinois and Washington D.C.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;The goal is by 2030 to have all 50 states represented with a branded walk,&#8221; Sims said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information in this story comes from Opal Lee and an interview with Dione Sims.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/tag\/us\/tx\/tarrant-county\/fort-worth\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fort Worth<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WORTH, Texas &#8211; A new book from the &#8220;Grandmother of Juneteenth&#8221; is coming out before this year&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,223,122,216,393],"class_list":["post-314828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-news","tag-tarrant-county","tag-tx","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}