Happy Juneteenth! And greetings to the woman who made it happen—
The proclamation of Juneteenth as a national holiday may have meant more to Opal Lee than any other American citizen. The 94-year-old had been campaigning for this since she was a mere 89.

1/4 In this time of repression, of official disrespect for the rights and well-being of our fellow humans, we're proud to honor people who are sticking their necks out to do the right thing. Here's the first of the new Giraffe Heroes...

General store owner Dorothy Oliver saw that her town, Paloma, AL, had no help dealing with Covid, so she got a hospital to promise a pop-up clinic if enough residents signed up. Oliver went to every household, despite the risk to her own health. Thanks to her, Paloma lost none of its 400 citizens.

Tyrique Glasgow doesn’t want kids in his Philadelphia neighborhood to live as he did, dealing drugs, getting shot, doing time. Home from prison, he's working around the clock to make sure South Phily kids and their families have services, opportunities, and hope. www.youngchances.org

In Capetown, South Africa, Colin Arendse champions the powerless, the elderly, the homeless, and the poor. He’s fought their evictions from affordable homes and he’s fighting the destruction of their neighborhoods by a planned highway. He's been threatened while exposing corruption in the police.

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Trevor Murray was fired for refusing the world’s largest bank’s order to change his focus from his clients’ earnings to the bank’s. He got a job in a grocery store while he sued as a whistleblower. Five years later, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, and in favor of all whistleblowers.

Robotics expert/Navy fighter pilot Missy Cummings was mysteriously fired when she reported the dangers of Teslas on auto-pilot. She changed jobs and continued her research, despite harassment and death threats, insisting public safety is Job One. giraffeheroes.org/1577/MissyCu...

Businessman/runner Tom O’Keefe created nonprofit Stride for Stride to pay the expenses of training, travel, and entry fees for immigrants who want to run but can’t afford to. The operation is now taking all the time he once spent on his for-profit business. www.strideforstride.com