Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free
The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth
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Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free
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Narrated by:
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Bahni Turpin
About this listen
Booklist starred review
Black activist Opal Lee had a vision of Juneteenth as a holiday for everyone. This true story celebrates Black joy and inspires children to see their dreams blossom. Growing up in Texas, Opal knew the history of Juneteenth, but she soon discovered that many Americans had never heard of the holiday. Join Opal on her historic journey to recognize and celebrate "freedom for all."
Every year, Opal looked forward to the Juneteenth picnic—a drumming, dancing, delicious party. She knew from Granddaddy Zak's stories that Juneteenth celebrated the day the freedom news of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation finally sailed into Texas in 1865—over two years after the president had declared it! But Opal didn't always see freedom in her Texas town. Then one Juneteenth day when Opal was twelve years old, an angry crowd burned down her brand-new home. This wasn't freedom at all. She had to do something! But could one person’s voice make a difference? Could Opal bring about national recognition of Juneteenth? Follow Opal Lee as she fights to improve the future by honoring the past.
Through the story of Opal Lee's determination and persistence, children ages 4 to 8 will learn:
- all people are created equal
- the power of bravery and using your voice for change
- the history of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, and what it means today
- no one is free unless everyone is free
- fighting for a dream is worth the difficulty experienced along the way
Featuring the illustrations of New York Times bestselling illustrator Keturah A. Bobo (I am Enough), Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free by Alice Faye Duncan celebrates the life and legacy of a modern-day Black leader while sharing a message of hope, unity, joy, and strength.
©2022 Alice Faye Duncan (P)2022 Thomas NelsonListeners also enjoyed...
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Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Author Joe Wheeler brings to this insightful audiobook the knowledge gleaned from over 10 years of study and more than 60 books on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Skillfully weaving his own narrative with direct quotes from Abraham Lincoln and poignant excerpts from other Lincoln biographers, Joe Wheeler brings a refreshingly friendly rendition Lincoln's life, faith and courage.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Retreads
- By J B Tipton on 04-22-09
By: Joe Wheeler
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America's Prophet
- Moses and the American Story
- By: Bruce Feiler
- Narrated by: Bruce Feiler
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
The exodus story is America's story. Moses is our real founding father. In this groundbreaking book, New York Times best-selling author Bruce Feiler travels through touchstones in American history and traces the biblical prophet's influence from the Mayflower through today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another great book
- By TR on 11-06-09
By: Bruce Feiler
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Liberty for All?
- A History of US, Book 5
- By: Joy Hakim
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Early nineteenth-century America could just about be summed up by Henry David Thoreau's words when he said, "Eastward I go only by force, but westward I go free." It was an exuberant time for the diverse citizens of the United States, who included a range of folk, from mountain men and railroad builders to whalers and farmers, as they pushed forward into the open frontier. And all their hopes and fears are captured in Liberty for All?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great survey of pre-Civil War US history
- By EmilyK on 01-05-15
By: Joy Hakim
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A Slave No More
- Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation
- By: David W. Blight
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Slave narratives are extremely rare. Of the 100 or so of these testimonies that survive, a mere handful are first-person accounts by slaves who ran away and freed themselves. Now two newly uncovered narratives, and the biographies of the men who wrote them, join that exclusive group.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A Piece Of History
- By John on 07-10-09
By: David W. Blight
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The Road to Dawn: Josiah Henson and the Story That Sparked the Civil War
- By: Jared A. Brock
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story5 out of 5 stars 73
This sweeping biography about the man who was the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is an epic tale of courage and bravery in the face of unimaginable trials. The Road to Dawn tells the improbable story of Josiah Henson - a dynamic, driven man with exceptional intelligence and unyielding principles, who overcame incredible odds to escape from slavery and improve the lives of hundreds of freedmen throughout his long life. He was immortalized by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book and very informative
- By plcd22 on 07-04-18
By: Jared A. Brock
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Bad Indians
- A Tribal Memoir
- By: Deborah A. Miranda
- Narrated by: Deborah Miranda
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story5 out of 5 stars 42
This beautiful and devastating book - part tribal history, part lyric and intimate memoir - should be required for anyone seeking to learn about California Indian history, past and present. Deborah A. Miranda tells stories of her Ohlone Costanoan Esselen family as well as the experience of California Indians as a whole through oral histories, newspaper clippings, anthropological recordings, personal reflections, and poems. The result is a work of literary art that is wise, angry, and playful all at once, a compilation that will break your heart and teach you to see the world anew.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Bad recording
- By Aspyn Maes on 09-18-21
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The Clanlands Almanac
- Seasonal Stories from Scotland
- By: Sam Heughan, Graham McTavish
- Narrated by: Sam Heughan, Graham McTavish
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 882
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 773
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Story5 out of 5 stars 767
From First Footing to Samhain, Fringe Festival follies to whisky lore, Sam and Graham guide listeners through a year of Scottish legends, traditions, historical and contemporary events, sharing personal stories and tips as only these two chalk-and-cheese friends can. As entertaining as it is practical, The Clanlands Almanac is a light-hearted education in Scottish history and culture, told through the eyes of two passionate Scotsmen. The perfect escapist guide, The Clanlands Almanac is intended as a starting point for your own Scottish discoveries.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sam & Graham!!!
- By Annie on 11-25-21
By: Sam Heughan, and others
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The Bone and Sinew of the Land
- By: Anna-Lisa Cox
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
Starting in our nation's earliest years, thousands of free African Americans were building hundreds of settlements in the Northwest Territory, a territory that banned slavery and gave equal voting rights to all men. This groundbreaking work of research reveals the lost history of the nation's first Great Migration. Though forgotten today, these pioneers were a matter of national importance at the time; their mere existence leading to fierce political movements and battles that tore families and communities apart long before the Civil War erupted.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must read for all!
- By Linda on 05-14-19
By: Anna-Lisa Cox
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A Rainbow in the Night
- The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa
- By: Dominique Lapierre
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
In 1652 a small group of Dutch farmers landed on the southernmost tip of Africa. Sent by the powerful Dutch India Company, their mission was simply to grow vegetables and supply ships rounding the cape. The colonists, however, were convinced by their strict Calvinist faith that they were among God's "Elect," chosen to rule over the continent. Their saga - bloody, ferocious, and fervent - would culminate three centuries later in one of the greatest tragedies of history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Informative, gripping, incredible
- By Gregory E Benoit on 03-20-15
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Dreams in a Time of War
- A Childhood Memoir
- By: Ngugi wa'Thiong'o
- Narrated by: Hakeem Kae-Kazim
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
Of Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, Ngugi wa Thiongo was born in 1938 in the backlands of his country (Kiambu district) to a father whose four wives bore him two dozen or so children. Ngugi was the fifth child of the third wife. His father was a peasant farmer forced to become a squatter after the British Imperial Act of 1915. Before going off to school, he had what was then considered a bizarre and inexplicable thirst for learning....
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4 out of 5 stars
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An escape through education
- By Tango on 06-17-12
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The Immortal Irishman
- The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
- By: Timothy Egan
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,411
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,076
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,057
The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man. A dashing young orator during the Great Famine of the 1840s, in which a million of his Irish countrymen died, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule, for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony. He escaped and six months later was heralded in the streets of New York - the revolutionary hero, back from the dead, at the dawn of the great Irish immigration to America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Yes, but....
- By Dale and Carol on 04-01-16
By: Timothy Egan
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Frontier Grit
- The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women
- By: Marianne Monson
- Narrated by: Caroline Shaffer
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 610
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 558
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 554
Discover the stories of 12 women who heard the call to settle the West and who came from all points of the globe to begin their journeys. As a slave Clara watched helplessly as her husband and children were sold, only to be reunited with her youngest daughter as a free woman six decades later. As a young girl, Charlotte hid her gender to escape a life of poverty and became the greatest stagecoach driver who ever lived. As a Native American, Gertrude fought to give her people a voice and to educate leaders about the ways and importance of America's native people.
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2 out of 5 stars
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only ok
- By Jane Orr on 06-14-21
By: Marianne Monson
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Abraham Lincoln
- The Prairie Years and The War Years
- By: Carl Sandburg
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 44 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,681
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,509
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,509
Originally published in six volumes, which sold more than one million copies, Carl Sandburg’s Abraham Lincoln was praised as the most noteworthy historical biography of Sandburg’s generation. He later distilled this monumental work into one volume that critics and readers alike consider his greatest work of nonfiction, as well as the most distinguished, authoritative biography of Lincoln ever published.
Growing up in an Illinois prairie town, Sandburg listened to stories of old-timers who had known Lincoln. By the time this single-volume edition was competed, he had spent a lifetime studying, researching, and writing about our 16th president.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A moving tale of a very human man
- By Sohachi on 06-25-16
By: Carl Sandburg
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Slaves in the Family
- By: Edward Ball
- Narrated by: Edward Ball
- Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 180
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
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Story5 out of 5 stars 159
The Ball family hails from South Carolina - Charleston and thereabouts. Their plantations were among the oldest and longest-standing plantations in the South. Between 1698 and 1865, close to 4,000 Black people were born into slavery under the Balls or were bought by them. In Slaves in the Family, Edward Ball recounts his efforts to track down and meet the descendants of his family's slaves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gives a good insight for moving forward today
- By Wendy Wood on 05-05-19
By: Edward Ball
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Twelve Years a Slave
- By: Solomon Northup
- Narrated by: Louis Gossett Jr.
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,961
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,588
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,584
In this riveting landmark autobiography, which reads like a novel, Academy Award and Emmy winner Louis Gossett, Jr., masterfully transports us to 1840s New York; Washington, D.C.; and Louisiana to experience the kidnapping and 12 years of bondage of Solomon Northup, a free man of color. Twelve Years a Slave, published in 1853, was an immediate bombshell in the national debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I've waited for this a long time
- By Book Reader on 04-04-13
By: Solomon Northup
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American Uprising
- The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt
- By: Daniel Rasmussen
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
In January 1811, five hundred slaves dressed in military uniforms and armed with guns, cane knives, and axes rose up from the plantations around New Orleans and set out to conquer the city. Ethnically diverse, politically astute, and highly organized, this self-made army challenged not only the economic system of plantation agriculture but also American expansion. Their march represented the largest act of armed resistance against slavery in the history of the United States.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Nice try, but ...
- By Steve on 07-26-12
By: Daniel Rasmussen
What listeners say about Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cynthia A. Goolsby
- 06-18-24
Thank you for freedom
I love the explanation of the meaning of Juneteenth. Best book of knowledge and clarity.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- FRANKIE M. YARRELL
- 06-05-23
Great history lesson
Very informative. Clearly spoken. My knowledge of Juneteenth is increased 100%
Should be part of elementary school curriculum.
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