The Legendary John Lewis
If not us, then who, if not now, then when?
Last night, legendary Civil Rights icon John Lewis passed away. John Lewis was a Freedom Fighter, Congressman, author and humanitarian. I’m sure that those who know him better can tell you more but this is what I see when I hear the name John Lewis.
Lewis is part of what of what I call “our” greatest generation. No disrespect to the warriors of WWII including the many Black soldiers from the U.S., Canada and other parts of the world but the men and women who fought for Civil Rights in the 50’s, 60’s and even into the 70’s, from Rosa Parks to Andrew Young, Ralph Abernathy, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X where the generation that fought and literally bled to move the dial on Civil Rights. When you look at Lewis’ life and his battles in the 60’s, he was one of the organizers of the march on Washington in 1963 where he was the youngest speaker among a lineup of speakers that included another leader who gave a world famous speech which we know as the “I Have a Dream” speech.
John Lewis was an organizer but also put his life on the line many times. One of those times no one cannot forget was the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 known as Bloody Sunday where Alabama State Troopers turned on marchers protesting for voting rights with batons and tear gas. Lewis himself was beaten and had his head fractured. Lewis did sit-ins at lunch counters that refused to serve Blacks but through all of that John Lewis was forgiving in spite of all the hate he endured during his fight. One story I remember hearing is one where Lewis came face to face with a former Klu Klux Klan member in 2009 named Elwin Wilson.
In 1961, John Lewis and other Freedom Riders where at a Greyhound Bus Station in Rock Hill, South Carolina when Lewis and another Freedom Rider (who was white) entered the “whites only” waiting area, they were assaulted by a group of white men, one of whom happened to be Elwin Wilson. The two Freedom Riders were beaten up that day but it was not until 2009 that Mr. Wilson said he wanted to apologize for the incident that happened all those years ago. John Lewis as the humble and down to earth man he was accepted to meet Wilson and forgave him for his acts on that day in 1961.
To me these were some of the stories that I have kept throughout the years when thinking about John Lewis.
Later in life he became a city councillor in Atlanta and then went on represent Georgia’s 5th district in Congress which covers Atlanta. He was considered the conscious of Congress, the one who was respected on both sides of the house even in a very polarized political climate. Lewis organized a sit-in on the House floor to urge new gun laws and encouraged the next generation of activists.
The last public appearance John Lewis made was to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington D.C., a fitting tribute to lend support to today’s Freedom Fighters.
Lewis’ message is one that has been heard world wide and while there are people out there, so called intellectuals dictating to Black people outside the U.S.A that we should not identify with the Afro-American struggle or that we cannot identify with the Afro-American struggle the reality is that we identify with Black Americans because the same struggles are permeated throughout the Black world and manifest in different severities but they are still struggles.
Rest well King!
#JohnLewis
