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Representative Profile

Opal Lee

Civil Rights Activist
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Black communities preserved Juneteenth for 150 years despite Jim Crow suppression
Black communities preserved freedom celebrations through 150 years of white suppression
Key Figures
Opal Lee portrait
Sheila Jackson Lee portrait
Opal Lee portrait
Sheila Jackson Lee portrait
Events (2)
Jun 17, 2021 · legislative
Biden signs Juneteenth National Independence Day into law first new federal holiday since 1983
Featured
President Biden signs legislation creating Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, as a federal holiday, the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned of their freedom, two months after the Civil War ended. The bill passes the Senate unanimously and the House 415-14. The signing is attended by descendants of enslaved Americans and civil rights icons. Biden notes the irony of celebrating freedom in a nation still grappling with racial injustice. He states "This is a day of profound weight and profound power... a day when we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took."
Key Figures
4 total
Jun 17, 2021 · legislative
Biden signs Juneteenth National Independence Day Act creating first new federal holiday since 1983
Featured
President Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, establishing June 19 as a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. The legislation passes the Senate unanimously and the House 415-14. It is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983. The signing comes one day before the first-ever Juneteenth federal holiday. Biden, Vice President Harris, and surviving civil rights leaders attend the signing ceremony.
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3 total
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