90-year-old woman walking 1,300 miles to D.C.

FORT WORTH, TX - 90-year-old Opal Lee is determined to make Juneteeth, the day that commemorates the abolition of slavery, a national holiday. The great grandmother and community activist is walking the 1,300 miles from her home in Fort Worth, Texas all the way to Washington, D.C.

She thought if a 90-year-old woman started walking to Washington someone would take notice. And that somebody would get it to the President.

Lee wants the nation to recognize the date of June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas with the news that the Civil War was over and slaves were free.

Her plan is to walk ten miles a day, accompanied by an RV and a nurse. But that’s not the only support she’ll have. She told reporter Alex Boyer that her true goal is to unite the nation in a time that is filled with so much hate.

Lee knows it isn’t likely that a bill will be passed before the end of President Obama’s term, but that won’t keep her from trying. When asked if she thinks it’s an uphill battle she replied, “Sure it is. It has been for forty years. But I ain’t giving up.”