Opal Lee now has the honor of being the second Black Texan recognized with a portrait in the state Senate.
“Change somebody’s mind because minds can be changed,” Lee told reporters after the ceremony. “If people have been taught to hate they can be taught to love, and it is up to you to do it.”
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. That was also about 2 1/2 years afterLee, who began her advocacy to make Juneteenth a holiday at 89, was lauded by senators from both parties who took turns praising her tenacity and legacy. Among them was state Sen. Royce West, a Democrat, one of two Black senators in the 31-member chamber.
Opponents of Confederate monuments at the state Capitol have fought to remove them for years, and West said there still needs to be a discussion about which portraits were “appropriate” to remain in the state’s senate chamber and which should be in a museum’s collection.Rosalind Roland, 62, was among the lively crowd gathered in the upstairs gallery to watch the unveiling.
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