John Lewis, born on February 21, 1940, near Troy, Alabama, and who passed away on July 17, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia, was more than just a civil rights leader and politician. He was the embodiment of courage, a symbol of unwavering dedication to justice, and the “conscience of Congress.” His life story, from the segregated classrooms of Alabama to the halls of power in Washington D.C., is a testament to the transformative power of nonviolent resistance.
Growing up in the Jim Crow South, the son of sharecroppers, Lewis witnessed firsthand the brutal realities of racial inequality. While his parents encouraged him to avoid challenging the status quo, the courageous actions of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. ignited a fire within him. He yearned to desegregate Troy State College (now Troy University), a dream his parents discouraged. Instead, he pursued his education at the American Baptist Theological Institute and Fisk University, where he earned a B.A. in religion and philosophy in 1967. It was in Nashville that he immersed himself in the philosophy of nonviolent protest, participating in sit-ins and, in 1961, enduring beatings and arrests as a Freedom Rider challenging segregation at interstate bus terminals. These experiences, tragically, became a recurring theme in his fight for equality.
In 1963, at the remarkably young age of 23, Lewis became chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), succeeding Chuck McDew. He quickly became a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement, earning a place among the “Big Six” leaders alongside King, James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young. That same year, he played a significant role in the historic March on Washington, solidifying his status as a national leader. During the Freedom Summer of 1964, he spearheaded SNCC’s voter registration and community organizing efforts in Mississippi, facing immense danger and resistance.
The defining moment of Lewis’s early activism came on March 7, 1965. Leading a march of some 600 peaceful demonstrators from Selma to Montgomery in support of voting rights, Lewis and Hosea Williams encountered a brutal blockade of law enforcement officers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The ensuing violence, forever etched in history as “Bloody Sunday,” saw peaceful protesters attacked with tear gas, clubs, and whips. Lewis himself suffered a fractured skull, yet his resilience shone through as he addressed reporters before seeking medical attention, calling on President Lyndon B. Johnson to intervene. The horrific scenes broadcast across the nation galvanized public opinion and directly contributed to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
After his time with SNCC, Lewis continued his work in the civil rights movement, notably leading the Voter Education Project. He served as director of ACTION under President Jimmy Carter before entering the political arena. In 1981, he became an Atlanta city councilman, and in 1986, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for decades, becoming a moral compass and a powerful voice for his constituents.
Throughout his life, Lewis received numerous accolades, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 1 His memoirs, Walking with the Wind, and the March trilogy, a graphic novel series depicting his civil rights experiences, have inspired generations. The final installment of March even won the National Book Award. The documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble further cemented his legacy.
John Lewis’s passing in 2020 marked the end of an era. He lay in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, an unprecedented honor for a Black lawmaker. At his funeral, he was eulogized by giants of politics and civil rights, including former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Obama, who considered Lewis a hero, captured the essence of his legacy, calling him a man of “unbreakable perseverance” who embodied the American ideal of ordinary people challenging the status quo to create a more just nation. John Lewis’s life was a beacon of hope, a testament to the enduring power of nonviolence, and an inspiration to all who strive for a more perfect union.
