![]() Lee believes the racial reckoning brought on by Floyd’s death is a chance to make change. Opal, she gained national attention in 2016, when at 89, she began a 1,400-mile trek from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to petition for the recognition of Juneteenth as a national holiday. A retired educator and counselor, Opal Lee has dedicated much of her life to preserving the history of Juneteenth. But now it was 2016, and many Americans still didn’t know the history of that joyous day Jwhen a cavalry of. Yes, she had planned and celebrated Juneteenth in Fort Worth, Texas for more than 40 years. The nationwide protests against racism and police brutality following the murder of George Floyd last year also brought an increased spotlight to Juneteenth. WHO IS OPAL LEE National Juneteenth Museum. Opal Lee (center), leading her Juneteenth walk in June of 2020. At 89 years old, Opal Lee, a retired teacher, counselor, community activist and organizer, decided she had not done enough. Dione Sims will serve as the founding executive director of the museum. It’s encouraging to know that people are becoming aware, that they’re beginning to understand and perhaps do something about the division that surrounds us.” Opal Lees family plans to break ground on National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth this fall. When Opal Lee was growing up in Texas, she would spend Juneteenth picnicking with her family, first in Marshall, where she was born, then in Sycamore Park. Now some 48 states have some kind of Juneteenth celebration. “There was so many people that didn’t know a thing in the world about Juneteenth,” she said about her 2016 walk. Amanda McCoy / Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS via Getty Images Opal Lee stands in front of the East Annie Street lot on June 2, where white rioters attacked, invaded and burned her family's home in 1939. A retired educator and counselor, Opal Lee has dedicated much of her life to preserving the history of Juneteenth. I’ve been part of Juneteenth since I was knee-high to a duck, Lee said Wednesday. The retired schoolteacher took that family history and passion for the holiday and turned it into a national crusade in 2016 when she walked from her hometown in Fort Worth, Texas, to the nation’s capital, gathering signatures to lobby Congress to make Juneteenth a national holiday. On June 17, 2021, a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday was signed into law by President Joe Biden. Opal Lee has walked for miles literally and figuratively to bring attention to Juneteenth.
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