She and her family lived in a predominantly white neighborhood in Fort Worth. When Mrs. Lee was 12, a mob of 500 white supremacists set fire to her home and vandalized it. Experiencing that hate crime pushed Mrs. Lee into a life of teaching, activism and, eventually, campaigning. In 2016, at the age of 89, she decided to walk from her home in Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., in an effort to get Juneteenth named a national holiday. As Mrs. Lee approached 93 last year, Fort Worth celebrated Juneteenth with multiple days of festivities, including a parade, a walk/run 5K, a breakfast of prayer, art exhibits, a gospel festival and the Miss Juneteenth Pageant.

Source: New York Times June 18, 2020 21:33 UTC