Stephen Montoya
The optimistic rays from the sun illuminated a busy construction site in Fort Worth during what was supposed to be a rainy morning at 940 E. Annie Street, Thursday morning. Camera crews along with city officials traversed the wet grounds that will soon be the new site for civil rights activist/educator Opal Lee’s home. A series of lumber frames lie waiting for volunteers from the Trinity Habitat For Humanity (THFH) team to raise like an homage to the Grandmother of Juneteenth. And although this ceremony is important for the fact that it signifies Lee’s new home, most, if not all of the attendees, know this means more than a roof over her head.
Over 80 years ago, this was the very spot where Lee and her family lived when she was only 12 years old. The tragedy behind this property lies within Lee’s recollection of an angry mob burning her family home to the ground only because they were black. Ironically, as Lee tells it, that fateful day took place on June 19. Last fall, this very plot of land was gifted to Lee as a present for her 97th birthday from THFH, after she asked the organization if she could buy it from them.
“I found out that Habitat owned it. I offered to buy it, but they wouldn't sell it to me. They gave it to me,” she told CBS 11 in October.
Stephen Montoya
Making good on their promise, THFH did better than just gift the property to Lee, they also, in tandem with Texas Capital, and HistoryMaker Homes, began the process of gathering resources to rebuild her home. Once built, Texas Capital will provide the furniture for the home, a prospect that Lee was visibly excited about.
A piece of property that once had a stigma surrounding it has become a beacon of perseverance and hope.
“If you've heard her speak about her family story and the tragedies that she's lived through and the racism that she's faced in this city, this is our chance to completely start over and give her the home that she so deserves to be proud of in her community,” mayor Mattie Parker said during the wall raising ceremony. “You’ve shown the world about what it merely means to live with love and forgiveness and total inspiration.”
This theme continued with each dignitary, who paid a respectful nod to the scarring event that stuck with Lee throughout her life. Gage Yager, CEO of THFH put it best, “This is the second mob on this lot … just let that sink in. The first mob was filled with hate. We're filled with love. What a better story that is.”
Trinity Habitat For Humanity
Now with the first wall already in place for Lee’s new home, Yager says he estimates the final completion date for this project to land on the very auspicious date of June 19th.
How fitting?
A rendering of Lee’s new home shows a two-tone blue and white façade with three red brick footers that split into three white load supporting beams that hold up a front porch. Lee says now that she knows she’s moving she would like to see the home see lived in for 50 years become a museum.
“I'm so delighted,” Lee said to the throng of supporters and media in attendance at the wall raising ceremony. “I've told everybody here I could do a holy dance, but the kids say when I try, I'm twerking. Whatever that is (laughs). I'm a happy camper, and I hope I can keep on walking and talking and telling people that we are all one people. That's what we are, all one people. And the sooner we accept that, the better.”
