‘Freedom for everyone’

Every day is a good day to learn a little more about history. Today, Juneteenth, is an especially good day to listen to a story that has shaped our present day through a long and painful struggle for freedom. In the words of Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth, the freedom we celebrate through the telling of this story is freedom not only for enslaved people, or Black people, or Texans, but for everyone.

I encourage you to watch this short video by historian Heather Cox Richardson, as she narrates the story of Juneteenth with historical drawings and photographs of the actual events.

It is good to remember as well the long commitment of Opal Lee, now 98 years old, who advocated and educated for decades to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Listen as she expresses what the day and the movement mean to her.

I am inspired to learn that Ms. Lee led a 2.5-mile walk on June 19 for more than two decades, as a living reminder of the 2.5 years that it took for the news of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans to reach Galveston, Texas. That walk is taking place again this morning, as I write this blog.

I plan to walk 2.5 miles today in honor of Ms. Lee. Would you like to join me in your own way?

Rebeca Stoltzfus