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.

Opal Lee, known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” will not participate in this year’s Juneteenth walk following a hospitalization. Lee, 98, was hospitalized last month for an undisclosed reason in Ohio on a trip to mark the 30th anniversary of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.