'I’m humbled by it, I truly am,' said the 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' Opal Lee.
“You know, I knew that the Senate had passed the bill but I thought the House was going to take a lot longer and to find out that both of them had and I’m on my way to Washington D.C. and going to be in the White House?” Lee continued, referring to the moment she watched President“I don’t know how to describe it. I’m humbled by it, I truly am,” the activist continued. “But you just have to take my word for it. I’m so grateful, I’m so very, very grateful.
Cuomo asked Lee, who undertook marathon hikes in a bid to bring attention to the cause, to document some of the barriers she’d faced. But she deflected the attention to others’ involvement in the campaign. “It’s not just one little old lady in tennis shoes who wanted Juneteenth to be a national holiday,” she said, citing the work of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation founded by the late Dr. Ronald Myers.
“I have followed in his footsteps,” she said. “I’m so glad we’ve got it and so many people have worked at it, not just me. People all over have played their part to make Juneteenth a national holiday.”"I just got to thinking... there must be something I could do to make people aware of Juneteenth and its significance," says Opal Lee, the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," of her iconic walks.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Michael Andrew Set to Pass Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps as the Best Ever in 200 IMThe only way that the 'old' Ryan Lochte can make a fifth Olympic team is to become the old Ryan Lochte on Friday night at the Olympic swimming trials.
Read more »
'Grandmother of Juneteenth' celebrates federal holiday -- but there is more work to do. Here's how you can helpBefore Juneteenth became an official federal holiday, 94-year-old Opal Lee was on a mission. 'I'm not just going to sit and rock, you know?' the determined 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' said. 'The Lord is going to have to catch me.'
Read more »
Congress Approves Juneteenth As Federal Holiday After House Vote; Biden Expected To Sign BillThe House of Representatives voted 415-14 late Wednesday to establish June 19 as a federal holiday in the U.S. Called Juneteenth National Independence Day, the 156-year-old celebration commemorates…
Read more »
Juneteenth celebrations around the USA -Lonely Planet'Juneteenth is an annual holiday commemorating the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas – the last Confederate state to practice slavery – in 1865.'
Read more »
House sends Juneteenth bill to Biden’s deskThe House voted 415-14 Wednesday to make Juneteenth, or June 19th, the 12th federal holiday.
Read more »