Sheila Jackson Lee, one of Texas’s longest-serving and most distinctive members of Congress, died July 19 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 74. Jackson Lee was a ubiquitous figure in Houston politics, instantly recognizable for her jewel-toned outfits and halo braids that encircled her head like a crown. To detractors, she was “Queen” Sheila—imperious, impatient, and self-important. To supporters, she was a tireless champion for the downtrodden and a beacon of Black power. In 2021 she played a lead role in making Juneteenth the first new national holiday in 38 years. It was one of her proudest accomplishments in nearly four decades of representing Texas’s Eighteenth Congressional District, a seat formerly held by civil rights icons Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland. The future congresswoman was…
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