85 years after a racist mob drove Opal Lee’s family away, she’s getting a new home on the same spot

By JAMIE STENGLE
Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — When Opal Lee was 12, a racist mob, angered that a Black family had moved in, drove her family out of their Texas home. Now, the 97-year-old community activist is getting closer to moving into a brand new home on the very same tree-lined corner lot in Fort Worth. Lee joined others in lifting the framework into place for the home’s first wall on Thursday. It’s expected that the house will be completed by June 19 — the day of the holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S. that means so much to Lee. Lee was one of the driving forces behind Juneteenth becoming a national holiday.