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Fort Worth’s Opal Lee is now a Barbie

Opal Lee's Barbie depicts the Fort Worth civil rights leader and Juneteenth Day advocate. It's part of Mattel's "Inspiring Women" series.
Mattel Creations
Opal Lee's Barbie depicts the Fort Worth civil rights leader. It's part of Mattel's "Barbie Inspiring Women" series.

Nobel Prize Peace nominee and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Opal Lee is the newest figure added to the "Barbie Inspiring Women" line.

Lee is 99, and her Barbie sports curly silver hair and glasses. She also wears pants, an “Opal’s Walk for Freedom” t-shirt and tennis shoes.

The outfit is an homage to the civil rights activist’s annual Juneteenth walk.

Lee gained national recognition after her walk to Washington D.C. where she advocated to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

In a statement reported by Good Morning America, Lee called the partnership a joy.

“I hope my story encourages the next generation to never underestimate the power of one voice. As I often say, one person can start a change, and that can change the world,” she said.

The doll is available through Mattel’s website for $47.99.

Marcheta Fornoff is an arts reporter at KERA News. She previously worked at the Fort Worth Report where she launched the Weekend Worthy newsletter. Before that she worked at Minnesota Public Radio, where she produced a live daily program and national specials about the first 100 days of President Trump’s first term, the COVID-19 pandemic and the view from “flyover” country. Her production work has aired on more than 350 stations nationwide, and her reporting has appeared in The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Report, Texas Standard, Sahan Journal and on her grandmother’s fridge. She currently lives in Fort Worth with her husband and rescue dog. In her free time she works as an unpaid brand ambassador for the Midwest.