John Lewis

John Lewis was an American statesman, civil rights leader, and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. A key figure in the civil rights movement, he was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and helped organize the March on Washington. Lewis is best remembered for leading the first of the Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an event known as Bloody Sunday that galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Early life and education

John Robert Lewis was born near Troy, Alabama, to sharecroppers Eddie Lewis and Willie Mae Carter. He grew up in rural Pike County and was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery bus boycott and the sermons of Martin Luther King Jr. on Radio. Lewis attended the American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he became deeply involved in nonviolent protest workshops. He later graduated from Fisk University with a degree in Religion. During his time in Nashville, he helped organize the influential Nashville sit-ins and joined the Freedom Riders, challenging segregation on interstate buses.

Civil rights activism

Lewis rose to national prominence as a founding member and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In this role, he helped coordinate the Freedom Summer project in Mississippi and spoke at the historic March on Washington in 1963. His most defining moment came on March 7, 1965, when he and Hosea Williams led over 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The violent confrontation with Alabama State Troopers, ordered by Governor George Wallace, was broadcast nationwide and pressured President Lyndon B. Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Lewis sustained a fractured skull during the attack but remained a steadfast advocate for Nonviolence.

Political career

After moving to Atlanta, Lewis was elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1981. In 1986, he won election to the United States House of Representatives, representing a district that included much of Atlanta. He served as a senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party and was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Throughout his tenure, he was a vocal advocate for healthcare reform, poverty reduction, and immigration reform, and he opposed the Iraq War. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2011.

Personal life and death

Lewis married Lillian Miles in 1968; the couple had one son, John-Miles Lewis. Lillian Miles Lewis died in 2012. John Lewis was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in December 2019. He continued his work in Congress until his death on July 17, 2020, in Atlanta. His body lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda, an honor accorded to few private citizens, with ceremonies also held at the Georgia State Capitol and the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma.

Legacy and honors

John Lewis is celebrated as a moral conscience of the United States Congress and an icon of the Civil rights movement. His memoir, March, a graphic novel trilogy, won a National Book Award. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was introduced to restore provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Numerous institutions bear his name, including the John Lewis Elementary School in Washington, D.C., and the John Lewis Library at Troy University. In 2020, the Atlanta City Council voted to rename a portion of Freedom Parkway as "John Lewis Freedom Parkway." The United States Navy announced it would name a ship, the USNS *John Lewis*, in his honor.

Category:American civil rights activists Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia Category:2020 deaths