A Texas woman who helped make Juneteenth a federal holiday has become the second Black Texan honored with a portrait on the walls of the state’s Senate chamber.
Lee was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
Her painting will join those of other celebrated Texas figures on the walls of the 135-year-old Capitol, where nearly a dozen Confederate markers remain in and around the building. Lee, who is from Fort Worth and often called the “ ,” joins the late U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan as the only two Black Texans to have portraits in the Senate chamber.“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 the age of 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 who is 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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