John Robert Lewis (1940-2020, age 80). An American statesman, civil rights leader, and politician with the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. Representative for Georgia‘s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. [Luce Index™ score: 95]
As a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement, he was one of the “Big Six” leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington and chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Lewis led the first of the Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where his severe beating by Alabama state troopers galvanized public support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. His lifelong dedication to justice and his philosophy of getting into “good trouble, necessary trouble” made him a moral conscience of the nation.
John Lewis was born the son of sharecroppers in Troy, Alabama. Inspired by the activism of Martin Luther King Jr., he dedicated himself to the struggle for civil rights through nonviolent protest.
He was a Freedom Rider, challenging segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South, and was arrested numerous times for his peaceful demonstrations.
After leaving SNCC, he continued his public service, eventually being elected to the Atlanta City Council before winning his seat in the United States House of Representatives.
In Congress, John Lewis was a steadfast Democrat known for his advocacy of human rights, gun control, and healthcare reform. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 by President Barack Obama.
The anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches, known as “Bloody Sunday,” is commemorated annually, and Lewis remained a central figure in these events until the end of his life. His legacy is remembered as a testament to the power of disciplined, nonviolent confrontation in the face of injustice.
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