John Lewis, the civil rights hero and Democratic congressman from the United States, died at the age of 80.
Lewis, who was born on February 21, 1940 in Alabama, became a leading leader of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Founding member of the Nonviolent Student Coordination Committee, became its chair in 1963 and helped organize the March in Washington, when Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I have a dream” speech.
In 1965, his skull was fractured by Alabama state soldiers when he and others led protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, during the Selma protest marches to Montgomery for voting rights.
Lewis was elected as Georgia’s fifth district congressman in 1987 and held the post until his death. He announced that he was being treated for stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December last year.
“I have been in some kind of fight, for freedom, equality, basic human rights, for most of my life,” he said at the time. “I’ve never faced a fight like the one I have right now.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that Lewis had died of pancreatic cancer in a statement Friday night.
Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, paid tribute to Lewis, saying he had fought “the good fight”.
Former President Bill Clinton said Lewis “gave everything he had to redeem America’s unfulfilled promise of equality and justice for all” and “became the consciousness of the nation.”
To be a king
(@BerniceKing)Goodbye Sir.
In fact, you fought the good fight and got into a lot of trouble.
You served God and humanity well.
Thank you.
Rest #JohnLewis pic.twitter.com/U1cPEwfCGOJuly 18, 2020
Bill clinton
(@Bill Clinton)John Lewis gave everything he had to redeem America’s unfulfilled promise of equality and justice for all, and create a place for us to build a more perfect union together. In doing so, he became the consciousness of the nation.
July 18, 2020
Pelosi said, “John Lewis was a titan of the civil rights movement whose kindness, faith, and courage transformed our nation, from the determination with which he faced discrimination at the lunch counters and at Freedom Rides, to the courage that showed as a young man he reduced violence and death on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the moral leadership he brought to Congress for over 30 years. “
“Every day of John Lewis’s life was dedicated to bringing freedom and justice to all. As he declared 57 years ago during the March in Washington, in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial: “Our minds, souls and hearts cannot rest until there is freedom and justice for all people.”
“How fitting that even in the last few weeks of his battle with cancer, John mustered the strength to visit the peaceful protests where the new generation of Americans had taken to the streets to take on the unfinished work of racial justice.”
Elizabeth Warren
(@SenWarren)John Lewis was a true American hero and the moral compass of our nation. May your courage and conviction live in all of us as we continue to create problems for justice and opportunity.
Rest in power, John.
July 18, 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Lewis was a “pioneering civil rights leader who risked his life to fight racism.”
“Congressman Lewis’s place among the giants of American history was assured before his career in Congress began,” the Republican senator said in a statement. “You didn’t have to agree with John on many details of politics to be impressed by his life.
Dan Rather
(@DanRather)The news hits deeply. And to the core. John Lewis dead. Can it really be? He had enough strength, courage, and heart for many lives. We were young once. Many memories. So much distance traveled. Much more to go. Goodbye my friend. We will get over it someday.
July 18, 2020
“Dr. King said:” The arc of the moral universe is long, but it leans towards justice “… The history of our great nation has only leaned towards justice because great men like John Lewis took it upon themselves to help bend it Our nation will never forget this American hero. “
More to come…
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