ATLANTA – John Lewis was praised as a warrior and hero during a ceremony Wednesday at the Georgia Capitol, where the civil rights icon who represented much of Atlanta in Congress will rest at one of the last monuments before being buried.
Referring to Langston Hughes’ poem, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Lewis called “America to be America again.”
“And so we gathered here today in what was once a Confederate fortress because this prophet lived and this prophet named John Lewis loved,” he said.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called Lewis “a beloved Georgian, an American hero, and a friend to all who sought a better, fairer, and more united society.”
“And even today, as our country faces a public health crisis and new challenges rooted in injustice, I know that the example set by Congressman Lewis … will inspire us all to do the hard work necessary to overcome our shared challenges and emerge stronger, “Kemp said.
People lined up on the streets as the hearse carrying Lewis’s body moved through the center. He paused briefly in front of a Lewis mural with the word “Hero” before arriving at the State Capitol, where he was greeted by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Members of the public then entered the state Capitol roundabout to pay their respects to Lewis, pausing to take pictures in front of his flag-covered coffin. A private burial service in Atlanta is scheduled for Thursday.
Bottoms recalled that Lewis’s wife would visit her mother’s parlor and said she was deeply moved when the congressman’s chief of staff told her a couple of days ago that Lewis was watching Atlanta news and proud of his leadership.
Bottoms recently challenged Kemp and required people to wear masks during the coronavirus outbreak, prompting a lawsuit by Kemp. The two have also clashed over the governor’s decision to mobilize the National Guard in the city earlier this month after a weekend of gun violence left five people dead, including an 8-year-old girl.
Bottoms seemed to reference the fights as he recalled Lewis’s praise, echoing his signature advice to get himself into “good trouble.”
“And so, Governor, when the good problems continue, know that it is with the blessings of Congressman Lewis,” he said to applause.
Wednesday’s service is part of a series of public memories for Lewis that began over the weekend.
A memorial service at the United States Capitol in Washington on Monday attracted leaders of Congress from both parties. Lewis was the first black lawmaker to lie in the state at the Capitol Rotunda. Shortly after 9 a.m.Wednesday, his flag-covered coffin was carried down the steps of the Capitol and placed in a hearse as people solemnly watched, many with hands on hearts.
On Sunday, his coffin was carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where the “Freedom Rider” was once among civil rights protesters beaten by state soldiers in 1965.
Lewis died on July 17 at the age of 80. Born to sharecroppers during the Jim Crow segregation, he was beaten by Alabama state agents during the civil rights movement, spoke before Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington and was awarded the Medal of Freedom for the nation’s first black president in 2011.
