Rep. John Lewis, A Force In The Civil Rights Movement, Dead At 80
Enlarge this image
Rep, John Lewis, who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, said it was moral obligation to stand up for his beliefs.
Susan Walsh/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Susan Walsh/AP
Enlarge this image
State troopers swing billy clubs at protesters, including John Lewis in the foreground, at a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 1965, that became known as Bloody Sunday.
AP
hide caption
toggle caption
AP
Transcript
NPR
subscribe
to
The NPR Politics Podcast
podcast
NPR One
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Pocket Casts
Spotify
RSS link
The foundation of faith that had him preaching in chicken coops also drew Lewis to the weekly radio sermons of Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis recalled in a 2009 interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross that those early broadcasts helped inspire his future activism.
«I was so inspired by Dr. King that in 1956, with some of my brothers and sisters and first cousins — I was only 16 years old — we went down to the public library trying to check out some books, and we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for coloreds, Lewis said. «It was a public library.
He didn’t set foot in that library again until 40 years later — to sign copies of his own memoir. He said the 1956 experience set him on a course toward the civil rights movement.
Lewis went on to study the techniques of nonviolent protest while attending what’s now known as the American Baptist College in Nashville.
In the summer of 1961, he and other students protested at segregated lunch counters and later joined the famous Freedom Rides. By his early 20s, Lewis was head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and in 1963, he joined King as a speaker at the March on Washington.
He spoke on voting rights and the future of the Democratic Party. His speech was brief, lasting less than eight minutes, but his words influenced a generation of activists.
«To those who have said, ‘Be patient and wait,’ he said. «We must say that we must not be patient. We do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now.
Civil rights leader John Lewis speaks during a news conference in Jackson, Miss., on June 23, 1964.
Jim Bourdier/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jim Bourdier/AP
Lewis took action again two years later in 1965 in a march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. In his interview with Fresh Air, Lewis remembered leading peaceful marchers onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge to protest voter registration. There, they met Alabama state troopers.
«In less than a minute and a half, the major said, ‘Troopers advance,’ Lewis recalled. «And you saw these men putting on their gas masks. They came toward us beating us with bullwhips, nightsticks, [charging at] us with horses and releasing the tear gas. I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick. I thought I was going to die.
It came to be known as Bloody Sunday, and news images from that day were fresh in the minds of lawmakers as the seminal Voting Rights Act became law that same year.
«We changed that
Later, Lewis would make an annual pilgrimage to the bridge to honor that day. The event became a rite of passage for Democrats running for office, particularly in 2007 when then-Sen. Barack Obama was vying to become the nation’s first African American president.
The pair repeated that walk several times, and in 2011, Obama presented Lewis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In his speech, Obama said Lewis had been asking himself two questions his entire life: «If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
Enlarge this image
Then-President Barack Obama hugs Rep. John Lewis during a 2015 event at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., commemorating Bloody Sunday.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Enlarge this image
John Lewis and his wife, Lillian, lead supporters from his campaign headquarters to an Atlanta hotel for a victory party in 1986.
Linda Schaeffer/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Linda Schaeffer/AP
The Two-Way
Demanding Action On Gun Control, House Democrats Stage Sit-In
«The time for silence and patience is long gone, he said. «We are calling on the leadership of the House to bring commonsense gun control legislation to the House floor, give us a vote. Where is the heart of this body, where is our soul? Where is our moral leadership? Where is our courage?
It was the start of a two-day sit-in to demand votes on a series of gun control measures. Democrats remained on the House floor, even after Republican leaders closed the House session and cut off the ever-present C-SPAN video feed. Democrats stayed there for two days, ultimately failing to persuade Republicans to schedule the votes.
But the moment was a rallying cry for Democrats in the following years as clashes with Republicans increased after the election of Donald Trump.
Enlarge this image
Rep. John Lewis attends a ceremony in September on Capitol Hill to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first recorded arrival of enslaved African people in America.
Patrick Semansky/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Patrick Semansky/AP
Enlarge this image
Rep. John Lewis waves during the swearing-in ceremony of Congressional Black Caucus members in January.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Rep. John Lewis waves during the swearing-in ceremony of Congressional Black Caucus members in January.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Обсудим?
Смотрите также:
