Opal Lee, 98, (center) will not attend this year’s Walk of Freedom, recognizing the Juneteenth holiday, due to health concerns, but she plans to participate virtually. She’s shown here at the walk in 2023. Bob Booth Bob Booth

Lee's annual 2.5-mile walk acknowledges the two and a half years it took for news of freedom to reach those enslaved in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. Over the decades, the celebrations that followed became known as Juneteenth.