On Friday, July 17th, Rep. John Lewis died of pancreatic cancer at 80 years old. While a congressman for over 30 years representing Georgia’s 5th congressional district, Lewis was best known for his powerful way with words, inspiring speeches, and his advocacy as one of the leaders of the civil rights movement.
Despite learning of his cancer diagnosis last December, Lewis continued his work in Congress and speaking out in favor of the Black Live Matter movement and protests that began this past Spring after the death of George Floyd.
Throughout his life, Lewis was arrested 45 times. He was a veteran of peaceful sit-ins and nonviolent protests. He was beaten by police to the point where he believed he would die, had cigarettes burned on his skin, and endured tear gas. His legacy is great and one we shall not soon forget.
John Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, outside of Troy, Alabama.
The son of sharecroppers, Lewis attended segregated public schools and was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks to dedicate his life to civic duty.
After graduating from high school, with the dream of attending Troy State College, Lewis wrote to King. King then sent him a roundtrip bus ticket where Lewis met with King and formed a friendship with him.
While attending college in Nashville, Tennessee, Lewis and a group of students entered a restaurant and after being informed that they would not be served due to the color of their skin, staged a peaceful protest. During which they were spat on, had condiments poured on them, and beaten.
“One method of practicing this approach, when faced with a hateful, angry, aggressive, even despicable person, is to imagine that person — actually visualize him or her — as an infant, as a baby. If you can see this full-grown attacker who faces you as a pure, innocent child that he or she once was, it is not hard to find compassion in your heart.”
In 1961, Lewis became one of the original Freedom Riders who challenged segregation at bus terminals across the south.
A proponent of nonviolence, at age 23, Lewis was one of the youngest speakers during the 1963 march on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. famously gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
In March of 1965, Lewis and Hosea Williams led 3 protest marches along 54-miles of the highway from Selma, Alabama to state’s capital on Montgomery to demand the right to vote for Black people.
On August 6, 1965, President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In 1986, Lewis was elected to the House of Representatives becoming the second African-American to represent Georgia in Congress.
In 1998, Lewis published his memoir, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement.
In 2011, Lewis was awarded the Presentential Medal of Freedom by President Barrack Obama, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Along with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, in 2013 Lewis helped create the graphic novel series March, depicting Lewis's lifelong struggle for civil rights.
In 2016, after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, Lewis led a sit-in in Congress demanding gun control legislation.
For more information about the life and legacy of Rep. John Lewis, check out these sources: