Opal Lee's original goal was to reach 100,000 signatures on her petition to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
Over the weekend, she got over 1 million.
The 93-year-old community activist has long advocated for a national celebration of Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. To raise awareness, she hosts her Walk 2 DC, walking 2.5 miles every day from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., in honor of the 2.5 years that it took for slaves in Texas to know that they were freed following the issuance of Emancipation Proclamation.
Last Friday, on Juneteenth itself, she walked from the Fort Worth Convention Center to Will Rogers Memorial Center — with a caravan of cars following behind her in accordance with social distancing — all the while encouraging citizens to sign her petition, which she intends to take to Congress.
But she had more than the city of Fort Worth backing her.
Celebrities like Usher, Diddy, Lupita Nyong'o, Jamie Foxx, and others expressed support for her efforts, posting to social media and encouraging their followers to sign the petition — and it worked.
Diddy himself called Lee to congratulate her. Watch the video below.
