{"id":343526,"date":"2026-06-20T00:16:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T00:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/343526\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T00:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T00:16:33","slug":"opal-lee-freedom-walk-draws-hundreds-despite-bad-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/343526\/","title":{"rendered":"Opal Lee Freedom Walk draws hundreds despite bad weather."},"content":{"rendered":"

The people of Fort Worth showed up rain or shine to celebrate Juneteenth at the Opal Lee Freedom Walk on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

People were lined up as early as 7 a.m. in the rain to collect their T-shirts for the walk and bask in the joy.<\/p>\n

The rain may have delayed the walk by an hour, but it did not dim spirits. The theme of the day was \u201cdelayed not denied,\u201d as Opal Lee\u2019s great-granddaughter Robbin Sims said.<\/p>\n

\"People People walk down Montgomery Street for the Opal Lee Walk for Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Fort Worth. The walk, which started in 2016, was held to lobby for making Juneteenth a recognized national holiday. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

\u201cI could have laid up in my bed and slept. I knew it was raining, but I said, \u2018Let me come on out,\u2019\u201d said Jim Austin, who founded the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum in Fort Worth with his wife.<\/p>\n

The Opal Lee Walk for Freedom has been a Juneteenth tradition in Fort Worth since 2015<\/a>. The walk is 2.5 miles long, to symbolize the 2.5 years it took the news of emancipation to reach slaves in Galveston.<\/p>\n

Lee, a Fort Worth native, has been an advocate for making Juneteenth a federal holiday for years and in 2016 at age 89 she symbolically walked from Texas to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the holiday. In 2021<\/a> when former President Joe Biden signed legislation to make it a federal holiday, she was there.<\/p>\n

\"Miss Miss Juneteenth DFW 2026 Iyana Schuman adjusts the crown of Little Miss Juneteenth North Texas Drue Dixon before the Opal Lee Walk for Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

While Lee, 99, was not in attendance this year, Sims said that her spirit was emulated by all the people who showed up despite the rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna tell people that they embodied the spirit of Opal Lee today for their determination and their resilience. I can\u2019t believe there\u2019s still so many people who are willing to brave the weather to still make that walk in solidarity. It\u2019s crazy to me. You guys are choosing to be here, and that is phenomenal,\u201d Sims said.<\/p>\n

There were hundreds of people in attendance, including James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate in Texas. He told the Star-Telegram this holiday is a reminder that \u201cevery generation has to continue to fight for freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S. U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico speaks with journalist Eugene Daniels with MS NOW as they walk in the Opal Lee Walk for Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Texas history, it\u2019s a reminder that that freedom is a Texas value, and that the fight for freedom is long, but when we fight together, we can win, and I think we need that message now more than ever,\u201d Talarico said.<\/p>\n

He added that he is inspired by Opal Lee\u2019s joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat strikes me about her is how she is still so joyful. After 99 years, after doing this work for decades, she still finds that joy to wake up every morning and fight for freedom and fight for justice, and I felt like we could all learn a lesson from her about how to do this work joyfully,\u201d Talarico said.<\/p>\n

\"Elijah Elijah Rambo plays with Dunbar High School’s marching band during the Opal Lee Walk for Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

For Delaine Wright, the day wasn\u2019t only about celebrating Juneteenth. It was about reuniting with an old friend she hadn\u2019t seen in 40 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe invited me to come visit him for me to meet his wife, his kids, and his grandbabies, and I said, \u2018Yes, I\u2019ll come.\u2019 He said, \u2018Come for the Juneteenth,\u2019\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

She said this is her first Juneteenth celebration.<\/p>\n

\"People People walk down West Lancaster Avenue for the Opal Lee Walk for Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Fort Worth. The walk, which started in 2016, was held to lobby for making Juneteenth a recognized national holiday. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

\u201cFor it to be a reunion with my friends, to participate in this walk, knowing it\u2019s just months before [Opal Lee\u2019s] 100th birthday, it\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The walk kicked off around 10 a.m. from the Will Rogers Memorial Center, with marching bands playing and folks ready to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cJuly 4 is not our day, we were not free. Juneteenth is our day. This is the day we celebrate the honor that is absolutely germane to our heritage. I am honored to be here to support [Opal Lee], and even if today she doesn\u2019t make it, we\u2019re still gonna walk in her honor, because it\u2019s that important,\u201d Said Pamela Grayson, who was among the participants.<\/p>\n

\"Miss Miss Juneteenth DFW 2026 Iyana Schuman does a TikTok dance with Miss Freedom 2026 Morgan Alexander before the Opal Lee Walk for Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n

Lee was originally supposed to ride along in the front of the walk, but she was tired from previous press events,<\/a> according to Promise Lee, her granddaughter. She was certainly missed, but the day did not lack her spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like it\u2019s very important that we all come together, and freedom is free for everybody. It should be free for everybody,\u201d said Charle Thiamorrison, who took part in the celebration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The people of Fort Worth showed up rain or shine to celebrate Juneteenth at the Opal Lee Freedom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-343526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343526","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=343526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}