Lawmakers penned a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Monday urging them to honor civil rights icon Opal Lee with a Nobel Peace Prize.
“We the undersigned members of the United States Congress, respectfully nominate Ms. Opal Lee to receive the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work to establish Juneteenth as a national holiday and bring awareness to the contributions and struggles of African Americans in the United States, as well as her mission to create a more equitable society for humanity,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the committee’s chairwoman, Berit Reiss-Andersen.
The lawmakers said Lee worked tirelessly to help bring recognition to the date of Juneteenth, also citing her decades of teaching and opposing white supremacy.
Juneteenth recognizes June 19, 1865, the date when the last recorded enslaved people were freed in the state of Texas, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
President Biden last year signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, turning the celebration of the abolition of slavery into a national holiday.
The lawmakers said Lee was pivotal in making that happen in nominating her for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Over the decades Ms. Lee organized many different efforts to have the holiday recognized such as in 2016 when she organized and participated in a walk from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC to raise awareness of the importance of Juneteenth and the need to have the date designated as a federal holiday,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Miss.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Colin Allred (D-Texas) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Lee said she was thunderstruck when she heard the news of her nomination.
“I’ve heard rumors, but it never occurred to me that it would actually happen. … I don’t know what to say,” Lee told The Dallas Morning News. “I’m humbled. Wow. … That’s what you call a heartstopper.”
“We took 1,500,000 signatures to Congress, and we were prepared to take that many more when we were called to the White House,” Lee added of her efforts to promote Juneteenth as a national holiday.
“Can’t you imagine, if 3 million people are on the same page, we could turn this country around. I can dream, can’t I?” she said.