Bryan Stevenson will speak in Fort Worth to kick off the series ahead of Juneteenth on Monday.
The National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth will launch its inaugural Uniting Voices Speaker Series with world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson.
Stevenson's critically acclaimed memoir documenting his life-changing work to combat social injustices in criminal law inspired Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of him in the 2019 biographical drama Just Mercy.
"Most people consider this guy a thought leader and an expert in his own right. So, he was the right person for us by any standard," said Jarred Howard, the museum's CEO. "In addition to raising money, we really wanna raise the museum's national profile. And we also want to create a conversation, develop a space for conversation for people to learn and lean and discuss because I think, quite frankly, that's the way we can change our world for the better is simply by having a conversation."
Stevenson acknowledges many people are unaware that Fort Worth will be the home of a national museum that will provide a full understanding of what the day means and its significance in history. Juneteenth marks when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free - which occurred June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers told enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, news of their freedom. It became a federal holiday in 2021.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Fort Worth's Opal Lee is considered the grandmother of Juneteenth after she began Opal’s Walk 2 DC in 2016 at age 89. She started with the plan to walk the 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC in hopes of gaining support from Congress to officially name Juneteenth a national holiday. She was at the White House in June 2021 when President Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The National Juneteenth Museum project was formally announced in December 2021. Howard says about half of the $70 million needed for the project in the Historic Southside neighborhood has been raised. The Fort Worth City Council approved a $15 million contribution once the balance of the project is raised.
Construction is expected to start later this year. A grand opening is planned for 2025.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"One of the reasons we're gonna make it happen is because we've got this 96 almost 97-year-old woman pushing us in the back, demanding that it gets done and gets done now," Howard said as he talked about Lee. "And if you know this 96-year-old woman that I'm referring to, you know, you don't tell her no."
Howard developed Uniting Voices, the National Juneteenth Museum Speaker Series to prelaunch the museum’s programming leading up to the grand opening of the museum’s campus in 2025. Ticket sales directly support the museum's effort to build an iconic destination for the education and celebration of Juneteenth.
National Juneteenth Museum Speaker Series, Thurs., June 15th, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., I.M. Terrell Academy for STEM and Visual Performing Arts, 1411 I.M. Terrell Cir. S., Fort Worth, TX 76102
For tickets, go here. Learn more about the National Juneteenth Museum here.
