Dallas, TX
‘Juneteenth freed the people’: Opal Lee leads hundreds on freedom walk through Dallas
Opal Lee walked outside and waved. That was all it took. Crowds clamored for a glimpse. People shouted her name and snapped photographs as television crews aimed their cameras at her.
Wearing sunglasses, a blue T-shirt and red tennis shoes, Lee led hundreds Wednesday on her annual Opal’s Walk for Freedom, a 2.5-mile trek to celebrate Juneteenth.
This year’s walk moved from Lee’s hometown of Fort Worth to Dallas, but the 97-year-old “grandmother of Juneteenth” drew the same big crowds and adoration. Supporters wore T-shirts and carried signs bearing her image, and many clapped and waved as she walked by.
Juneteenth recognizes the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston to inform enslaved people of their freedom, about 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
“July 4 freed the land,” Lee said before the walk. “But Juneteenth freed the people.”
Black Americans, especially in Texas, have celebrated the day for decades, but interest in the holiday skyrocketed in recent years. In 2016, Lee made her way from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., walking 2½ miles in several cities along the way to represent the 2½ years it took for news of emancipation to reach Galveston. In 2021, President Joe Biden, with Lee at his side, signed into law a bill declaring Juneteenth a national holiday.
Growing up, Tiffany Weaver, 45, said she celebrated the holiday with friends and family eating barbecue and playing outside. This year she joined Lee’s walk, which began at the African American Museum in Dallas’ Fair Park.
Weaver, who lives in Dallas, said she loves that Juneteenth is now celebrated on a larger scale.
“We weren’t free until we were all free,” she said. “This has been a long time coming.”
Stanton Brown, 32, of McKinney, who brought his infant and 4-year-old daughters to the walk, said he long knew about Juneteenth but only began celebrating the day in recent years.
“Freedom is really a mindset,” Brown said. “I want to honor the people who came before me and fought for freedom. I’m here because of them.”
As they walked, marchers clasped hands and some sang “This Little Light of Mine.” Parents pushed young children in strollers or carried them on shoulders, and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders walked alongside marching band drummers and members of a Girl Scouts troop.
Traditional African dancers and drummers lined the route and walked next to Lee, flanked by Fort Worth’s Miss Juneteenth and a cluster of police officers.
Many fanned themselves from the heat, which hovered in the 80s for most of the walk, cooler than in past years.
Lee, who grew up in Texas, has recalled celebrating Juneteenth by picnicking with her family, first in Marshall and later in Fort Worth. In 1939, when she was 12, a mob of white supremacists set fire to her family’s home in Fort Worth and destroyed it. Lee and her family were forced to flee. The event shaped her life as an educator and activist.
Lee received a new home this month, courtesy of the community, on the same lot.
This year’s walk moved to Dallas to highlight the role Juneteenth has on other U.S. cities, Lee’s granddaughter, Dione Sims said. Cities around the world planned their own walks, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and Tokyo. Next year, the march will return to Fort Worth before heading to Washington, D.C., in 2026.
On Wednesday, Lee, who rode in a golf cart for part of the walk, said her work is far from over, and she urged supporters to tackle homelessness and climate change.
“If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love,” she said. “We are all our brother’s keeper. It behooves us to act like it.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Garland Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abby Policastro and Marissa Aulbaugh prosecuted the case.
“This verdict should send a clear message to drug dealers that we will dismantle any effort to peddle deadly fentanyl in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their dedicated collaboration in taking thousands of fentanyl pills off the streets of Dallas.”
If the Dallas Cowboys want to get over the hump and back into the playoffs in 2026, they’ve got to see a massive improvement in the defense.
Owner Jerry Jones was brutally honest with just how much the Cowboys were held back by their defense in 2025, and the numbers very clearly spell that out.
How does a Cowboys team that ranked top 10 in passing, rushing and points on offense still miss the playoffs?
Well, Dallas also ranked 30th in total yards allowed, 32nd in passing yards, 23rd against the run and 32nd in points against, that’s how. That putrid showing rightly cost Matt Eberflus his job, which set the stage for Dallas to hire Christian Parker.
It also set the stage for a total overhaul of the defense, with Dallas making many additions to that side of the ball, including at corner, where the Cowboys were bad on the boundary and in slot last season.
Fow now, we’re more focused on the boundary competition, as the Cowboys appear set to roll with Caleb Downs in the slot.
Cowboys’ CB competition is crucial for 2026
The Cowboys won’t have much hope for a playoff appearance if the cornerback play doesn’t improve. Of the 10 teams that landed in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed last season, only two of them made the postseason.
Of course, the pass-rush played a part in that, and while Dallas has made multiple additions to that group this offseason, there really aren’t any guarantees with Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence or Donovan Ezeiruaku.
If that trio fails to improve a pass-rush that was tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the NFL in 2025, the cornerbacks become even more crucial.
DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel did not play well in 2025, and while the former appears safe for now when it comes to a starting job on the outside, his leash could be short if he struggles again.
Revel, on the other hand, isn’t locked into a starting job on the boundary and is competing with Durant and Caelen Carson. It’s also worth keeping an eye on who finishes in second in that battle because that player could replace Bland if he struggles or gets hurt again.
There is hope Revel can bounce back now that he’s another year removed from the torn ACL he suffered in his final year in college and can enjoy a full offseason, but we’ll have to see it first before we can believe it.
“It’s very beneficial,” Revel said of having a normal offseason. “Just because I can clean up a lot of things, a lot of errors I didn’t see last year, or I did see last year, that I could clean up this year.”
“My knee is 100%, so now it’s time to focus on situational ball and I’ve got to see what I need to fix or get better at,” Revel added.
When training camp kicks off next month, we’re going to be locked into watching the battle at cornerback because it could very well make or break Dallas’ entire 2026 campaign.
Follow
The NFL offseason is moving along as the Dallas Cowboys recently wrapped up their mandatory minicamp. Their next big event takes place at the end of July when they meet in Oxnard for training camp.
Coming off a 7-9-1 campaign, the Cowboys have several areas they would like to improve, and while defense has been the focal point, there will be plenty to watch on offense as well with players fighting for their spot on the depth chart.
That means there will be no shortage of storylines to follow, including keeping an eye on these three players who enter camp with their stock trending in the wrong direction.
Jonathan Mingo, WR
It has been a roller coaster for Jonathan Mingo ever since being traded to Dallas ahead of the 2024 deadline. He made no impact during his first eight games, recording just five receptions. He seemed ready to rebound in 2025, however, as he took advantage of his first full offseason with the Cowboys.
Mingo was one of the stars of training camp and put himself in the WR3 conversation. A knee injury put an end to that run and he wound up playing in just six games and had one catch. Now, Mingo heads into camp with very little chance of making the 53-man roster.
Joe Milton III, QB
At this time last year, Joe Milton III was one of the hottest names in Frisco. The former New England Patriots quarterback was expected to give them a more explosive QB2 behind Dak Prescott after Cooper Rush left in free agency. LeSean McCoy went overboard by saying Dak Prescott’s job was in danger, but there was still a lot of understandable hype.
Now as he enters his second season with the franchise, Milton is going to be battling for the backup spot with Sam Howell, who was signed this offseason. Milton still has a rocket for an arm and unbelievable athleticism for a 6-foot-5, 246-pounder, but he could be in danger of losing his roster spot if he can’t find more consistency.
Malik Hooker, S
Dallas added three safeties this offseason, signing Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke in free agency and selecting Caleb Downs in the first round of the NFL draft. Thompson has yet to fully practice due to an injury but Downs has been turning heads and Locke has taken advantage of the extra snaps.
That’s not ideal for Malik Hooker, who has also been sidelined with an injury. Unlike Thompson, Hooker isn’t in the first year of his deal, so his missed time is more detrimental. He also doesn’t have experience with the coaching staff the way Locke does. That means he’s entering camp without much momentum at all, and could be in danger of losing his spot.
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