HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — In July I got a phone call, “Lupe, it’s Opal. When are you taking your vacation this summer?”
When the ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth,’ Ms. Opal Lee herself invites you to join her on a trip to Alabama, you say yes, and hope your news director approves the idea.
Lee was invited by her two long-time friends, Dr. Augusta Gooch and Dr. Deborah Heikes, to visit their home in Huntsville.
They both teach at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). When their colleagues learned they were friends with “The Opal Lee,” the trip eventually became three days of back-to-back events aimed at honoring Lee’s visit to the city.
The couple has known Lee for decades, long before President Joe Biden honored her at the White House last year attributing Juneteenth becoming a national holiday to Lee’s activism. Since then, she’s received national attention, becoming a household and classroom name.
A simple Google search of Lee’s name yields interviews on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and every other major news network. CNN honored her with a Juneteenth tribute narrated by Beyoncé.
However, long before the fame attached to the newest federal holiday, people in Fort Worth knew her name. The 95-year-old has served North Texas for decades as a teacher, social worker, activist and community organizer.
Lee met Dr. Gooch in 1986 through their mutual friend, the late Lenora Rolla.
“Lenora was one of Fort Worth’s civil rights leaders of the 20th century,” said Dr. Gooch. “She was loved by everyone around her.”
Dr. Gooch was a teacher in North Texas when Rolla introduced her to Lee, who was her best friend. Dr. Gooch and Lee had a lot in common as local educators and became friends fast.
“Teachers hang out with other teachers,” said Dr. Gooch. “We had common community goals. Opal, Lenora and I were involved in a lot of community and political activities together.”
Dr. Gooch has fond memories of celebrating Juneteenth with Lee and Rolla when she lived in North Texas.
Dr. Heikes met Lee years later when she and Dr. Gooch first started dating. She remembers Lee dreaming about making Juneteenth a national holiday then.
“When I first met her 30 years ago, she was all about Juneteenth,” said Dr. Heikes. “I remember thinking, ‘It’s a Texas thing, it’s never going to be a national holiday,’ but she pursued it, and she shows you what perseverance will do.”
Over the years, while living in separate states, the couple and Lee have worked to cultivate their friendship by keeping in touch.
“I’ve always loved them, I’m happy they found one another,” said Lee as she recalled attending their commitment ceremony with Rolla in 1997.
This visit to Alabama was the first time in more than ten years since Lee had made a trip to visit her friends, and that’s where I come into the mix.
“Lupe, I want you to meet my lesbian friends,” said Lee during our July phone conversation. “Maybe they can introduce you to a nice man.” She was referencing a conversation we shared the first time I met her in Nov. 2020.
That November she posted a video on Facebook urging her fellow senior citizens, especially those of color, to take COVID-19 seriously by skipping family holiday gatherings that year.
I asked her if she would sit down and speak with me for a story 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. She gave me a tour of her home and the five-acre urban farm along the Trinity River, named in her honor.
We listened to music together in my car as we drove from one filming location to another. Lee was very interested in my work as a journalist and I her activism. Our conversation flowed effortlessly.
During the car ride back to her home from the farm, she asked if I was married or had a girlfriend.
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 while I’m meeting with the people whose stories I share.
I usually spend about two hours filming and getting to know people about the stories I produce. 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?” “Are you married?”
I’m a proud openly gay man. However, the level of comfort I feel with the person decides how candid I am.
Lee had already made me feel very warm in her presence, but I knew we shared a Christian faith and that had me nervous. Her age also played a factor in my feeling uneasy about answering her very simple question.
I wasn’t sure how conservative or comfortable she’d be knowing my truth. I remember times when being candid had backfired on me, but I ultimately thought, “What do I have to lose?” Our time together was ending anyway, and I pride myself on 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.
The generational gap and Lee’s Christian faith had me scared I’d just created an uncomfortable situation for the both of us.
She told 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.
Her congenial spirit is the very reason Dr. Gooch and Dr. Heikes love her so much as well.
“When you talk to her, she makes you feel like you are the only person in the world,” said Dr. Heikes about Lee. “She makes you feel that you matter, her attention is on you and she has this way of putting you at ease and making you feel really comfortable and loved.”
For the last two years, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Lee through the stories I featured her in as a reporter with Spectrum News 1.
I’m honored to call her my friend.
When Lee invited me to join her on her Alabama trip, I was excited, not only to meet her queer friends she was so eager to introduce me to, but to document this first of a kind trip.
The way I understood it, all of Huntsville, Alabama wanted a piece of Ms. Opal.
The trip was organized by Dr. Gooch and Dr. Heikes’ colleague Dr. Nicholas Jones, the Director of UAH’s Humanities Center, along with Angela Curry, the executive director of United Women of Color.
Together, Dr. Jones and Curry planned The Joy of Juneteenth, which included six events over three days.
During her visit to Huntsville, Lee met with dignitaries from across the city, attend a church service at St. John AME; signed copies of her book “Juneteenth: A Children’s Story” at Oakwood University; read her book to students at a local public elementary school; toured the campus of Alabama A&M University; and took part in a public dialogue on the UAH campus.
Collaborators for Lee’s visit included Alabama A&M University, the City of Huntsville, Highlands Elementary PTA, Madison County Commission District 6, Oakwood University, St. John AME Church, UAH Music and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
Lee had only been in Huntsville for a couple hours before local Journalist Sedona Meadows with FOX54 sat down with her for an interview covering The Joy of Juneteenth event.
The nonprofit United Women of Color organized the first event Saturday, Aug. 27. The organization honored Lee for being a role model for black women everywhere. After a catered dinner, Lee made sure to personally thank everyone for coming by passing out a pamphlet explaining the history of Juneteenth.
Attending the event was Violet Edwards. In 2020, she became the first black woman to serve as a commissioner in Alabama’s Madison County.
“At 86 Opal was just getting started,” said Edwards. “So how dare me at 46 complain about anything? There is work to be done and Dr. Lee is showing us how to do it. She inspires me to be better.”
Sunday was filled with music from singers at St. John AME Church, and then Oakwood University’s award-winning choir The Aeolians.
“If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love,” said Lee as she spoke to an auditorium filled with Oakwood students and faculty. “And it’s up to you to make that change.”
While at Oakwood University, Lee sat down with Journalist Xavier Wherry with WAAY 31 News. During an interview, she shared some advice for the college students attending the event.
“Whatever you believe in you mustn’t let anything stop you,” said Lee. “You’re going to have setbacks, people are going to tell you ‘you’re wrong,’ they might even tell you ‘you’re crazy’ but if you believe in it, don’t let it stop you.”
On the last day of her tour, Aug. 29 Lee enjoyed what she called, “The highlight of the trip,” when she read to a cafeteria filled with students at Huntsville’s Highlands Elementary School.
“It was so wonderful seeing their little faces light up,” said Lee. “I hope perhaps they are learning about the history of Juneteenth here in Alabama.”
An 11-year-old 6th grade student I spoke with said she remembers seeing Lee on TV at the White House when Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021.
Later that day she met with members of her sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, and toured the campus of Alabama A&M University, Huntsville’s oldest Historically Black College and University, founded in 1875.
That evening, Lee wrapped up her tour with a public dialogue at the UAH campus. She was surprised when Huntsville’s Mayor Tommy Battle presented her with a proclamation naming Monday Aug. 29, 2022, as “Opal Lee Day” in Huntsville.
Following the proclamation, Journalist Margo Gray with WAFF 48 News moderated a conversation with Lee.
Gray asked Lee what every journalist asked during her tour, “What’s next for Opal Lee?”
“I’ve got a laundry list longer than any Santa Claus list I’ve ever seen,” Lee replied. “Oh the things I want to do.”
Since completing her mission of seeing Juneteenth become a national holiday, 33 members of congress have nominated Lee for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“Let me tell you about that Peace Prize. I’ve been dreaming about it,” said Lee.
Gray asked Lee what she’d do with the $1 million in prize money if she becomes the next Nobel Laureate. She said she’s going to Africa to give it away.
“I’ve never, ever wanted to go to Africa, but I’m going to Uganda whether I win that Peace Prize or not,” said Lee. “Because there’s a mother over there who’s given birth to 44 children by the same husband.”
That woman is known as Mama Uganda and she’s been dubbed the most fertile woman in the world. A YouTube documentary produced by Afrimax TV shows the large family’s cramped living space.
“This mother lives with all her children in a small house she doesn’t even own,” says a narrator during the documentary “They sleep in a small place full of bunk beds. She told us she came to live here after her husband had sold the place they were living in and left.”
Lee says she has big plans on sharing the love as shipping containers.
“She has 38 living children,” said Lee. “I’m taking 10 containers because you cut them right in the middle and you got two units. I want her to have one by herself, and I want to have one for those children.”
It’s a dream Lee shared in every interview she gave during her Alabama visit.
“So, if I don’t win the prize I’m going to call on all you good people who think I’ve done something special, and you’re going to help me get those containers and take them to Uganda,” said Lee. “I’ll be coming to all your darlings who love me, cause I’m going to do it, come hell or high water.”
At the end of the public dialogue event, I sat down with one of Lee’s new friends, Angela Curry.
“[Lee] Lives out her passion through the empowerment of girls, women and their communities, by uniting people across ethnicities to address civic and educational gaps for advancement,” said Curry.
Curry believes years from now Lee’s activism to make Juneteenth a national holiday will be recorded in history books.
“I didn’t get to meet Fannie Lou Hamer. I didn’t get to meet Maya Angelou, but I got to meet Opal Lee,” said Curry. “She is the embodiment of ‘Be the change you want to see,’ and just do it one day at a time and know that it’s not going to happen overnight.”
I’ve documented Lee’s journey for almost two years and it’s been so interesting to see her rise in celebrity status. When I met her she was already a North Texas icon, but now she gets recognized regularly.
The Captain flying our plane back to Texas knew who she was immediately and wanted to introduce himself personally. He was excited to take a picture of her, and he wasn’t the only one.
The woman I sat next to on the plane asked who the captain was taking a picture of. I asked her if the name Opal Lee rung a bell.
“You mean the little old lady who helped make Juneteenth a federal holiday?” responded California resident Rhonda Gilyard.
“It’s not every day that you meet a real-life hero,” said Gilyard. “Miss Lee is what I call a ‘shero,’ somebody who’s fought not just for herself but for others.”
She was also very excited to take a picture with Lee once we landed in Dallas.
As our trip ended, I asked Lee what her greatest bit of advice would be to anyone wanting to follow in her footsteps.
“Not to waste time,” exclaimed Lee. “If they got a dream, if they got something they want to do, do it! And I know there are obstacles. I had so many that I could tell you about. But, there’s a God out there that looks after us, and he knows how you feel, and he’s willing to see you get what you want done. So, for heaven’s sakes, continue whatever you feel that you must do. I did!”
Lee said the trip was a nice break, but back in Texas there’s work to be done.
“I’m focused on seeing the National Juneteenth Museum open in Fort Worth next year,” said Lee.
She hopes to see the $70 million project break ground before the end of the year and be in full operation in time for the Juneteenth holiday in 2024.
Lee said she’s excited to see who wins this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Foundation will announce laureates Oct. 3-10.
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 Human-Interest Reporter Lupe Zapata: Lupe.Zapata@Charter.com.