Who Inspires Me? Opal Lee
A one-year new holiday commemorating Juneteenth, sort for June 19th, an event many outside of Texas didn’t know about before last year. A momentous event we might still not know about—and definitely wouldn’t be celebrating if it were not for the actions of one determined then 94-year-old woman: Opal Lee
Opal Lee walked from Fort Worth Texas to Washington DC— “a little old lady in tennis shoes”—2 1/2 miles at a stretch, to commemorate the 2 1/2 years it took for word of the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people free, to finally reached Texas.
When Opal arrived at the Capitol on September 23, 2020, she delivered to Congress a petition to declare Juneteenth a holiday with 1.5 million signatures. Watch a Video About Opal Lee’s Walk here!
“ None of us are free until we’re all free.”
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 that word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved Texans—two years and six months after President Abraham Lincoln issued it—making Texas one of the last states to legally abolish slavery. In 1980, thanks to activist Opal Lee and others, Texas declared Juneteenth a statewide holiday.
In 2021, when President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday, Opal Lee, called “The Grandmother of Juneteenth” was there!
For more about how Juneteenth came to be—and why—read/share Opal’s picture book, The Real Opal Lee
And for more about Opal enjoy Alice Fay Duncan and Keturah A Bobo’s picture book biography, Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free.
Even more: Maya Smart has curated an excellent list of Juneteenth Picture Books!
Happy Happy Juneteenth!
Poetry Challenge #196-Simple Poem of Freedom
Juneteenth! Jubilee Day! Liberty Day! Freedom Day! is this Saturday, June 19th. That’s the official day marking the end of slavery in Texas and the United States. About 2 months after the end of the Civil War, on June 19th, 1865, U.S. General Gordon Granger march into Galveston, Texas and read General Orders No. 3:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
Saying-proclaiming-making laws—declaring slaves free—is not the same as doing it. As U.S. History since June 19, 1985 has shown, we the people have repeatedly, in myriad ways—social, fiscal, political, physical—tried to maintain slavery. Finally, now—again?—awareness that the U.S. Constitution’s promise to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity is resulting in active change in support of all peoples’ rights. Let’s join the Juneteenth Celebration with, to paraphrase Bobby Darin , a simple poem for freedom.
Poetry Challenge #196
Poem of Freedom
In celebration of Juneteenth, write a poem of freedom. It might be a prayer, a hope, a promise, but, in the spirit of Bobby Darin’s Simple Song of Freedom, try writing it in the form of a chant or song. To do that write:
A rhythmic stanza of at least 4 lines (rhyming or not),
A rhyming refrain (of at least 2 lines)
Another rhythmic stanza in the form of the first.
Continue the pattern: stanza-refrain-stanza as long as you’d like. End your poem of freedom with the refrain or a riff on the refrain.
Let Freedom—for all—ring!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 4 years ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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