94-Year-Old ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’ Tells CNN Seeing Bill Signed Finally Observing Holiday Was ‘Off The Chain’

Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images.

Opal Lee might be 94 years old, but she had some very current slang to share with CNN’s Chris Cuomo about her joy seeing President Joe Biden sign a bill officially making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The “Grandmother of Juneteenth” has been waiting a long time to see Juneteenth honored on a national level, and she was an integral part of helping make it a reality. Lee (pictured above, to the left of Vice President Kamala Harris) was invited to the White House by Biden to witness the historic bill signing in Washington, D.C. in recognition of her efforts.

In 2016, at age 89, Lee began a walking tour through dozens of American cities, journeying from her home in Ft. Worth, Texas to Washington, hoping that “someone would notice a little old lady in tennis shoes.” She traveled 2.5 miles each day, in recognition of the two-and-a-half years it took for the news of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (signed Sept. 22, 1862; effective Jan. 1, 1863) to reach slaves in Galveston, Texas (June 19th — “Juneteenth” — 1865).

Lee continued walking 2.5 miles each year after that, to continue to raise awareness for the cause.

“We are blessed to mark today in the presence of Opal Lee,” said Biden before he signed the bill. “Ms. Opal you’re incredible. A daughter of Texas, grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”

“This was the work of many, but Juneteenth as a national holiday may never have happened without Miss Opal Lee,” said Cuomo as he played a video clip of a jubilant Lee learning that the bill had passed Congress.

“Was this day and Juneteenth becoming a reality as a national holiday, is it how you imagined?” Cuomo asked.

“I guess I thought it would be like this,” Lee replied, “but to have it actually happen was — can I use the phrase the children use? It was off the chain.”

“Off the chain,” said Cuomo, laughing. “How so?”

“Oh, to find out — you know, I knew that the Senate had passed the bill, but I thought the House was going to take a lot longer. And to find out that both of them had, and I’m on my way to Washington, D.C. And going to be in the White House? I don’t know how to describe it.”

“I’m humbled by it. I truly am,” said Lee. “I’m so grateful. So very, very grateful.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.