“Grandmother of Juneteenth” Opal Lee, recovering from a recent hospitalization, will not participate in her annual Walk for Freedom event in Fort Worth, according to family.
“She’s 98 and the family really wants to keep her in,” Lee’s granddaughter Dione Sims told the Fort Worth Report June 17.
Lee was hospitalized in late May for unknown reasons while on a trip to receive the International Freedom Conductor Award at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Ohio. She was released from the hospital in early June and has been recovering at her Fort Worth home.
Sims will instead lead the 2½-mile Fort Worth walk, which kicks off at 9 a.m. June 19 at Farrington Field in the Cultural District. Sims said her grandmother has been preparing for her to take charge since the event was launched in 2016.
Sims is the president and founder of Unity Unlimited Inc., a nonprofit focused on producing educational activities and opportunities to support unity. She annually produces Juneteenth celebrations with Lee.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about and she kind of planned for. (Grandmother) said, ‘It’s just time, baby girl, you got to do it,’” Sims said. “I said, ‘Yes ma’am.’”
Opal’s Walk for Freedom — held nationally, but anchored in Fort Worth — represents the two-and-a-half years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach enslaved people in Texas.
Lee spent decades advocating for Juneteenth to become a federal holiday until 2021, when President Joe Biden signed it into law.
Lee recently dropped out of being a featured guest at the National Juneteenth Museum’s June 19 speaker series with civil rights legend Andrew Young, 93, who served as U.N. ambassador during President Jimmy Carter’s administration and as a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr.
“Although I am unable to return the many texts and calls I have received over the past few days, please know that each one is appreciated; I am truly grateful for your concern and good wishes,” Lee wrote on Facebook June 1.
In 2024, Lee led the Walk for Freedom in Dallas, which kicked off at the African American Museum in Fair Park. A misconception has spread that the walk is “coming back to Fort Worth,” but that hasn’t been the case, Sims said.
“We walked in Dallas as a preparation measure, because next year we’ll be walking in D.C.,” Sims said. “It was getting the practice of working with another city, be it our sister city up the street.”
The 2025 walk will end with a community after-party featuring Juneteenth educational materials, musical performances, food vendors and batting cages. As of June 17, 1,000 people are registered to attend, Sims said.
Sims advises that those participating in the Walk for Freedom stay hydrated throughout the duration of the event.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
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