Photo: Scott Webb | Unsplash
Before she would be known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth,” the day meant something different to Opal Lee, when she and her family fled their home in darkness in hope of surviving the racist mob that had come for them. Lee was 12 years old at the time; her family had bought the home in Fort Worth, Texas, US, and was assured that there “would be no trouble.” But sadly, that was not the case and the family had to flee for their lives. Lee, now 97, went on to become a renowned civil rights leader and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize last year. She recently contacted a friend who was CEO of Trinity Habitat for Humanity. They owned the land and Lee inquired about buying it. Greg Yager, Trinity’s CEO, told her he wouldn’t sell it to her but would give it to her. “It should be hers, and there should be something good to come out of something terrible all those years ago,” Yager said. He then offered to build a home on the property for her. “It’s both an amazing and terrible story, and hopefully, as she says, it comes full circle,” Yager said. “We’ll build a home, laugh, cry, and move her in. And we’ll celebrate the moment when that happens.
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