This June 19 marks the second year the United States has observed Juneteenth as a national holiday . Thats in large part due to the work and dedication of 95-year-old Opal Lee , who played a major role in putting pressure on legislators to acknowledge a significant day Black folks in America have been celebrating for generations.

When she was 89, Lee started marching 2.5 miles for liberation in recognition of Juneteenth and the enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, who didnt know enslavement had ended until two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The retired teacher knew that she wanted to help her community while celebrating a holiday that shed been honoring her entire life. She also knew that Juneteenth deserved to be a federal holiday.

Then, Opals Walk for Freedom was born.

On June 17, 2021, Lee stood next to President Joe Biden as he signed the bill declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday. She had delivered 1.5 million signatures to Congress demanding that it recognize the holiday. Through her annual walk, she had won a fight many who came before her had fought too.

Cant you imagine 3 million people on the same page? We could turn this country around. Now, I was humbled, she said of the victory. I thought, Oh, to be at the White House with the president and the vice president and all those people who were making the laws. I was overwhelmed. I still pinch myself sometimes to see if it really happened.