And at age 95, she’s just getting started.
At age 89—an age when most people would consider settling down—Opal Lee embarked on the biggest journey of her life.
In 2016, determined to elevate Juneteenth into a national holiday, Lee decided to walk 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C. armed with 1.6 million signatures. With the support of fellow Juneteenth activists, she reached her goal in about four months.
“I felt like if a little old lady in tennis shoes was making her way to Washington, D.C,” Lee, now 95, told Know Your Value.
Her efforts eventually paid off. President Joe Biden signed the federal holiday into law in June of this year. He called Lee an “incredible woman.”
The Bidens have remained awed by Lee. On Tuesday, The Biden Institute honored her with their 2021 Woman of Power and Purpose award, presented by Valerie Biden, the president’s sister, at the University of Delaware.
“Opal is the epitome of power and purpose,” Valerie Biden told Know Your Value. “This woman has the backbone of steel…she has a vision, and she is hopeful.”
Valerie Biden continued: “If she doesn’t prove that success can happen at any age, I don’t know who does.”