GRANDMOTHER OF JUNETEENTH!

On June 19, 1865, after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered, Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. His announcement finally brought to effect across the United States the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln.

President Biden signed the bill making Juneteenth a national holiday on Thursday. Opal Lee, 94, also known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, was standing beside him during the ceremony.

At the age of 89, Opal Lee decided she wanted to spread the word on Juneteenth to everybody. The best way, she decided, was to help get Juneteenth accepted as a national holiday. She started with a walking campaign. Lee arrived in cities where she'd been invited to speak and walked 2½ miles to symbolize the 2½ years that it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn they were free.

Her annual walks culminated in a march to the Capitol, carrying with her a petition signed by 1½ million Americans urging Congress to pass legislation for a federal holiday. Her persistence paid off with the declaration of Juneteenth as a national holiday this week.

Happy Juneteenth and thank you, Opal Lee!

[https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007498876/how-juneteenth-became-national-holiday]