June 21, 2022
We at Motéma want to celebrate and elevate the voice and works of teacher and activist Opal Lee, 95, known as “The Grandmother of Juneteenth”. At age 89 she began a walking campaign to advocate for this11th Federal Holiday, which celebrates the freeing of enslaved African Americans at the end of the Civil War, and serves to underscore that none of us are free until all of us are free. Ms. Lee said on CNN today “I want you to know that it’s mind-boggling to think that we actually have a holiday… Juneteenth means freedom!” Here’s a video montage to honor this moment, that is set to the final track of artist/activist Rene Marie’s remarkable album ‘Voice of My Beautiful People’ (Motéma 2011). Learn more about Opal Lee and Juneteenth here: shorturl.at/loHUW and here: https://www.opalswalk2dc.com/