Ms. Opal is a voice of history with a message for the future. Many consider her the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” but if you ask her who she is, she will tell you she’s “just a little old lady in tennis shoes getting in everybody’s business.”
The Legend
At 94 years old, Opal Lee is still determined to see Juneteenth made a national holiday through bringing awareness to Congress and the administration that the country needs and wants the unity that celebrating the abolition of slavery can bring. Influenced by being a board member of NJOF with Dr. Ronald Meyers, she too understood the national relevance of celebrating freedom all across America which is bigger than just Texas.
The Organization
Unity Unlimited, Inc was established in 2000 to provide resources, activities and connections to support the cause of unity and harmony within the communities of Fort Worth, the state of Texas, America and the world.
The Start
Ms. Opal Lee began Opal’s Walk 2 DC in 2016 at age 89. She started with the plan to walk the 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC in hopes of gaining support from Congress to officially name Juneteenth a national holiday. With the goal of 100,000 petition signatures, Ms. Opal set out on her mission and hasn’t stopped since. She has since reached over 1.5 million signatures.