FORT WORTH, Texas – Civil rights activist, social impact leader, grandmother of Juneteenth, and “Grand Dear” are all titles attributed to 94-year-old Fort Worth icon Opal Lee.
When I first met Ms. Opal in November of last year, she had just posted a video on Facebook urging her fellow senior citizens, especially those of color, to take COVID-19 seriously by skipping family holiday gatherings in 2020.
I asked her if she would be willing to sit down and speak with me about why she was so passionate about social distancing. She agreed, and invited me to meet with her that same day at her home in Fort Worth.
We spent a couple of hours getting to know one another, and she gave me a tour of her home and the five-acre urban farm along the Trinity River named in her honor.
After listening to music together in my car, Opal and I shared stories, and I really enjoyed our time together. Before we parted, she asked if I was married. When I told her I was single, she seemed perplexed and asked why I hadn’t found a “beautiful young lady with a personality as good as mine.” (Her words, not mine.)
I found myself in an awkward situation; this is a question I get asked often as an openly, proud gay man. While I’m meeting with the people whose stories I share, I usually spend about two hours filming and getting to know them. I’m often trying my best to make someone who may not be used to speaking in front of a camera feel comfortable being candid. This kind of interaction usually leads to casual conversation. The usual questions include: “Where are you originally from?”; “Do you get nervous on camera?”; and “Are you married?”
The level of comfortable I feel with the person decides how candid I am. Lee had already made me feel very warm in her presence, but I knew like me she shares a Christian faith. That, along with her age, meant I wasn’t sure how conservative or comfortable she’d be about my truth. I remembered times when being candid had backfired on me but ultimately thought, “What do I have to lose?” Our time together was coming to an end anyway, and I pride myself in being honest.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and answered her question by telling her I’m gay and still looking for a partner. She was quiet for what seemed like forever and I was nervous I’d just made us both feel uncomfortable.
Opal proceeded to tell me she “loves the gays,” that she’d pray I find the perfect man, and she’d be “on the lookout" to find me a good mate. As I let out a sigh of relief, I felt so loved by this woman I’d just met two hours prior.
She made me promise the next time I was in Fort Worth and free that I’d take her to lunch. Her congenial spirit is the very reason she’s so loved by those who know her.
More than two months later when I learned Opal was being honored with Visit Fort Worth’s annual Hospitality Award, I wasn’t surprised. I gave her a call and asked if I could join her at the award ceremony, after I took her to lunch of course.
The week before the ceremony Opal, her granddaughter Dione Sims, and I met for lunch – it was so nice reconnecting. She shared with me how honored she was to be receiving the Hospitality Award.
“It’s a big deal,” she said.
The award goes to a person or organization that “has made significant contributions to developing, marketing, and delivering visitor experiences for Fort Worth’s travel, tourism and hospitality industry." Previous Hospitality Award honorees include Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Leon Bridges, DFW Airport, Mayor Betsy Price, museums of the Cultural District, and Holt Hickman, who worked to re-envision and renovate the city’s Stockyards.
Opal recently realized a longtime dream in 2020 by collecting 1.5 million signatures on a petition to create a national holiday for Juneteenth, the day the Civil War-era Emancipation Proclamation was announced in Texas.
Visit Fort Worth was a leading sponsor of Opal’s Walk celebrating Juneteenth 2020. Her efforts drew national attention from celebrities including Usher, Diddy and Lupita Nyong’o, as well as media coverage from The New York Times and Associated Press.
“Opal Lee’s positive message about freedom captured national attention this year. In honoring her, we want to emphasize that everyone is welcome in Fort Worth, Texas,” said Mark Nurdin, chairman of the Visit Fort Worth Board of Directors.
Opal’s known statewide as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” for her efforts in preserving the history about the day enslaved people in Texas learned of slavery’s abolition. In Fort Worth, she dedicated more than four decades to coordinating the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration. She’s the oldest living board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation and helped pave the way for 43 states establishing Juneteenth as a day of observance. It’s her mission to make Juneteenth a national holiday in her lifetime.
“At 94, I ain’t got a lot of time and I want to see it done before I go!” said Opal.
Opal received her Hospitality Award during Visit Fort Worth’s Annual Meeting & Breakfast held in at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel.
At the event, Opal spoke of the importance to being an advocate against injustice and speaking up against hate when you come in contact with it.
“The person you work with, that’s the person you need to make it your mission to change his or her mind from the negative things they think or say about other ethnic groups. Of course, if you’re the culprit, come see me.” she said in an acceptance speech.
After a long standing ovation, it seemed everyone wanted to visit with Lee. As she posed for dozens of pictures it was obvious I wasn’t the only one who seemed to have experienced the same warmth from Opal.
Back at her home, Opal was excited to put the heavy pewter trophy on her mantel. She said it’s a reminder of the work that still needs to be done.
“I’m not done yet,” said Opal.
As we sat in her treasured home library, she shared a time when her Fort Worth community was anything but welcoming. Long before any of her multiple awards, on June 19, 1939 – the night of Juneteenth – an angry mob of KKK members forced her family out of a mostly white neighborhood by burning their home to the ground. Opal was just 12 years old but remembers the night clearly.
“When my father came from work with a shotgun the police told him that if he busted a cap they would let that mob have us,” said Opal. “That’s what the paper said – they were 500 strong and the police could not control them.”
Opal says she doesn’t dwell on what happened back then. She’s too focused on the future with plans of getting signatures to make Juneteenth a national holiday. She wants people to remember change is not easy, but it’s worth the fight.
“If we’ve been taught to hate, we can be taught to love. And it’s our responsibility to teach the person to love that we know needs that lesson,” said Opal.
Opal’s Change.org petition to make Juneteenth a national holiday is currently on its way to 3 million signatures since she visited the Capitol last September and physically delivered 1.5 million signatures to congressional leaders.
"I want people to see that Juneteenth can be the unifier that brings us all together and get people talking about the tough issues that are the residual effects of our collective histories. We can do so much more together than we can do apart,” said Opal.
When I told Opal I wanted to do a story focusing on Black History Month by sharing how someone like her is working to better the Black community, she interrupted me with a drawn-out “Blah!”
Confused, I asked her why.
“We all work like Trojans 365 days a year trying to get our message out, and Black History Month, that's okay. We'll take whatever crumbs we can get, you hear me,” she replied.
Opal wants young Black people to use their voices to raise concern about issues impacting the Black community yearround.
“Black history doesn’t end in February,” said Opal.
I promised Opal I would post this article once we were out of February.
I told her it would be a symbolic gesture pointing to the idea that Black rights and issues are something to be remembered all year round, not something to be highlighted only one month a year. She laughed and said, “That’s a start!”
If you have an interesting story or an issue you’d like to see covered, let us know about it. Share your ideas with DFW Reporter Lupe Zapata: Lupe.Zapata@Charter.com