93-year-old activist visits Brunswick to promote children’s book

ByBriana Collier|September 27, 2020 at 5:59 PM EDT - Updated September 27 at 11:46 PM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -A 93-year-old social impact leader from Texas made a stop in Brunswick on Sunday.

Ms. Opal Lee is on a mission to get Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday and to also promote her children’s book. Ms. Lee says currently there are 47 states that have Juneteenth observances and she’s pushing for a national holiday.

She says the history of black people needs to be told and recognized and for people to never forget what blacks went through.

“We cannot let the fact that people are unaware of Juneteenth," Lee says. "It’s important that everybody in the United States realize that slaves weren’t free in Texas for two and a half years after other slaves were free.”

Ms. Lee was also promoting her children’s book, which she says is important to teach the younger generation so that they can continue to educate the next generation.

“I wrote a book called ‘Juneteenth: a Children’s Story’ because young people, the young children need to know. It’s not in the schools and I just believe that we have to start giving children some background information, they need to know these things because you don’t want it to happen again.”

Ms. Lee held a prayer vigil at the site where Ahmaud Arbery was murdered.

She’s also encouraging people to clickhereto sign the petition to help make the day not only a national holiday, but a celebration from June 19 up until July 4th.

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Photo: WTOC


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