Unrelentingly positive, Miss Opal (as she is commonly called) is nonetheless practical, media savvy, and tough as nails.

There are activities planned over four days, June 16-19, and the organizers anticipate a turnout of more than 2,500 people. She's one of the organizers of the local holiday celebrations and, this year, she proudly told me, was going to be the best parade yet. She's not walking anymore, but Juneteenth is still one of her many passion projects. In DC, Congressman Veasey arranged for her to walk from Frederick Douglass' house to the capital.

In Texarkana she walked from the county courthouse to the cemetery where her grandparents are buried. She walked in Shreveport and Fort Smith, in Charlotte and Little Rock and Madison and Birmingham. She traveled the country, only going 'where she was invited,' and walking five miles each day, often at the head of a group of students or community supporters. When Opal finally started walking, the journey was more symbolic than literal. Ronald Myers, who started the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, and her mentor, Lenora Rolla, who founded the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society, Opal dreamed up her 'Walk to DC.' She says she thought that 'if a little old lady in tennis shoes started walking to Washington, someone would take notice.' Initially, she had every intention of walking straight there, but cooler heads prevailed. But Opal Lee mentions it in passing, as an interesting side project she's engaged in, before moving on to tell me about her primary work вЂ“ her continuing efforts to have Juneteenth declared a national holiday. Once every three years, the family's scattered descendants select a city and come together to catch up.ДЇor many nonagenarians, raising that amount of money would be a daunting, even impossible, task.

Today, she is sitting in her dining room, telling me about how she's trying to raise $30,000 for her upcoming family reunion. Opal, who will turn 91 in October, is the eldest daughter of one of that patriarch's 19 children вЂ“ 16 of whom survived to adulthood. He had 160 acres to tend and no way to hire the help he needed, Opal says, so 'he grew help instead.' When they finally arrived, her grandfather вЂ“ 'Poppa,' as she still calls him вЂ“ settled down to farming. When Opal Lee's grandparents relocated from Louisiana to Texas, they did so in two covered wagons.

Opal lee juneteenth