Fort Worth approves Juneteenth as a paid city holiday, praises civic leader Opal Lee
Starting next year, Juneteenth will be an annual paid holiday for thousands of Fort Worth city workers.
The City Council on Tuesday night approved a resolution declaring June 19 a paid day off. The date is often referred to as Juneteenth, and it commemorates the day that news about the end of slavery finally reached the shores of Texas.
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves on Jan. 1, 1863, but word didn’t reach Texas until more than two years later, on June 19, 1865, when federal troops landed in Galveston.
Fort Worth employs about 7,000 people.
Civic leader and retired educator Opal Lee, who has been instrumental in drawing national attention to the significance of the date and is sometimes called the “grandmother of the movement,” attended the council meeting and thanked the members for their unanimous support.
“I want the city to realize that what we’re doing is not a me thing. It’s a we thing,” Lee, 94, told the council. She encouraged elected leaders to work together on issues of racial disparity, including unemployment and homelessness.
The resolution noted the federal government’s decision to make Juneteenth a paid federal holiday earlier this year. June 19 also is a state holiday.
Councilwoman Gyna Bivens was one of several members who thanked Lee for her years of work.
Lee is known for her 2.5-mile walks to commemorate the 2.5 years it took for word of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas, and in 2016-17 she conducted a symbolic walk from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C.
In June, Lee attended President Biden’s signing ceremony for the new Juneteenth federal holiday, and was given the first of several pens Biden used to sign his name.
“Your work is deeply appreciated,” Bivens said. “It can never be duplicated.”
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 8:14 PM.
