"The world has lost a legend; the civil rights movement has lost an icon, the City of Atlanta has lost one of its most fearless leaders, and the Congressional Black Caucus has lost our longest serving member," the caucus said in a statement. President Barack Obama awarded Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 for his lifetime of advocacy and activism. I don't recall how I made it back across that bridge.". Lewis also fought for voting rights, which is what he was championing for when he helped lead a group of about 600 across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965. John Lewis (February 21, 1940July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights leader who served as a United States Representative for the Fifth Congressional District in Georgia from 1987 until he died in 2020. Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and served in Congress for decades, has died, his family confirmed in a statement. It is so much more massive and all-inclusive. A fighter for justice until the end, Mr. Lewis recently visited Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington DC. On July 17, 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a time of unparalleled racial tensions in the United States, the nation loses one of the last towering figures of the civil rights movement. This image released by Magnolia Pictures shows Rep. John Lewis in a scene from "John Lewis: Good Trouble.". Congressman sustained a fractured skull. In 1986, he prevailed in his quest to serve as Congressman, defeating former State Representativeand fellow civil rights activistJulian Bond in the runoff for the Democratic primary, and subsequently prevailing in the general election. Organize. He was born on Feb. 21, 1940, to Eddie and Willie Mae (Carter) Lewis near the town of Troy on a sharecropping farm owned by a white man. His activism continued even as he was battling the cancer that claimed his life. In the years since, many have suggested renaming the bridge after Lewis. He was first elected to Congress in 1986, representing Georgia's 5th Congressional district, which includes the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King served as pastor. During the Freedom Rides in 1961, he was left unconscious in a pool of his own blood outside the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Montgomery, Ala., after he and others were attacked by hundreds of white people. At 18, he wrote a letter to King, who responded by purchasing a round-trip bus ticket to Montgomery for Lewis so they could meet. John Lewis was a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation from the determination with which he met discrimination at lunch counters and on Freedom Rides, to the courage he showed as a young man facing down violence and death on Edmund Pettus Bridge, to the moral leadership he brought to the Congress for more than 30 years., Lewis death came months after he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in December 2019, which his office said was discovered during a routine medical visit. "And with a sense of determination and commitment and dedication, there will be no turning back. In an interview decades later, he said he was undeterred. "Dr. King, I am John Robert Lewis," he recalled saying to King. I could imagine that they were my congregation. Lewis passed seven months after a routine medical visit revealed that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. What losses did Russia suffer in the Wagner revolt? During his time in the seminary Lewis began attending lectures on non-violent protests by James Lawson, a civil rights leader who was at the time a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. Lewis had served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987, where he was sometimes referred to as the "conscience of Congress." In 2016, after a massacre at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub left 49 people dead, he led a sit-in on the House floor to protest federal inaction on gun control. John Lewis - New Georgia Encyclopedia Lewis was the last surviving speaker from the march. He fed them and read to them from the Bible. We will march through the South, through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did, he had written. He is an American politician, civil rights leader, and human rights activist, among other things. "We have a mission and a mandate to be on the right side of history.". Did You Know? He was 80. The American people are demanding action, he said at the time. "So I have decided to do what I know to do and do what I have always done: I am going to fight it and keep fighting for the Beloved Community. I thought I was going to die, Lewis said. Im gonna continue to fight. John Lewis - March from Selma to Montgomery, "Bloody Sunday," 1965 In 1965, at the height of the modern civil rights movement, activists organized a march for voting rights, from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital. They're survived by a son, John-Miles Lewis. When he was younger, his words could be more militant. We will redeem the soul of America, and in doing so we will inspire people around the world to stand up and speak out.. ", Trump responded on Twitter, saying Lewis "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart." But one thing he is not is a lawyer. Were not going back. Rep. John Robert Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon, died Friday. John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era, Dies at 80 He was elected as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and was a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington. Rep. John Robert Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon, died Friday. We want our freedom, and we want it now., Speaking to TIME in 2013 for the 50th anniversary of the March, Lewis recalled how he was struck by the significance of the moment at the time. Lewis was 80 years old. Here's what you need to know about his son, John-Miles Lewis: 1.. @kseelye, A version of this article appears in print on, John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era, Dies at 80, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html. Getting into good trouble became his motto for life. How Selma's 'Bloody Sunday' Became a Turning Point in the - HISTORY Mr. Lewis was arrested 40 times from 1960 to 1966. / CBS News. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jail over and over again," Lewis said in 1963 as he stood on the steps of Lincoln Memorial. One of those troopers fractured Lewis's skull, scarring his head for the rest of his life. In this March 7, 1965, file photo, state troopers swinging billy clubs to break up a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala. John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, in the foreground, is being beaten by a state trooper. "And through the decades, he not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom and justice, but inspired generations that followed to try to live up to his example. Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com. Lewis' skull was fractured. He was a stalwart champion in the on-going struggle to demand respect for the dignity and worth of every human being. Eyewitness - National Archives Inspired by Lawson, he started participating in sit-ins at lunch counters in Nashville, which began shortly after the famed sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina. Lewis spoke in June to CBS News about his activism in the 1960s. ", House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Lewis a "titan of the civil rights movement, whose goodness faith and bravery transformed our nation. Three Great Men Died That Day: JFK, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley They gave Jimmy Carter, a son of Georgia, his margin of victory in the 1976 presidential election. Was John Lewis Married? What You Need to Know About His - Distractify The National Guard accompanied them to ensure their safety. The rally, at which King famously delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, drew more than 200,000 attendees. I looked straight out and I started speaking., In March of 1965, in the midst of his tenure chairing the SNCC, Lewis was beaten by law enforcement while on the front lines of the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery to push for voting rights, in an infamous episode that came to be known as Bloody Sunday. King had planned to stay in Atlanta because aides feared for his safety, TIME reported in a cover story at the time. Lewis was never shy in his criticism of President Donald Trump, skipping his inauguration and first State of the Union address and calling him a "racist" in a January 2018 interview on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos. "I have been in some kind of fight - for freedom, equality, basic human rights - for nearly my entire life," he said in a statement released at the time. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. "I thought I saw death," Lewis later said. Civil Rights Icon John Lewis Dead At 80, Retail Sales Up, New - NPR One civil rights activist who knew him well told The New York Times in 1976: Some leaders, even the toughest, would occasionally finesse a situation where they knew they were going to get beaten or jailed. He died on the same day as another civil rights stalwart, the Rev. Lewis was honored as an American hero by those who mourned him Friday night. "Rioting, looting and burning is not the way. Lewis rose to prominence as a young civil rights activist who. Mr. Lewis, third from left, marching with the Rev. John Lewis, congressman and civil rights icon, dies at 80 I want you to think about sending a workhorse to Washington, and not a show horse, Mr. Lewis said during a debate. As a congressman he was a Georgia Democrat, and represented an area which covered most of its capital Atlanta. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., right, from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., on March 21, 1965. Rep John Lewis announced he had stage 4 cancer in December 2019, John Lewis addressing the crowd at the historic March on Washington in 1963, The endangered languages that are fighting back. Lewis died of pancreatic cancer on July 17, 2020. By then, Mr. Lewis had begun his studies at American Baptist Theological Seminary (now American Baptist College) in Nashville, where he worked as a dishwasher and janitor to pay for his education. In December 2019, Lewis announced he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. People of all races and creeds.". Author J . He was 80 years old. The protesters were attacked physically, and Lewis was arrested repeatedly, but the campaign was successful. John Lewis, civil rights icon, has died at 80 - CBS News "And that was the beginning.". In the outhouse, they used the pages of an old Sears catalog as toilet paper. "His life-long mission for justice, equality and freedom left a permanent impression on our nation and world," the organisation said. In a statement, former President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Lewis after a virtual town hall with a group of activists following the death of George Floyd. As a student at Fisk University, he led numerous demonstrations in Nashville against racial segregation, including sit-ins at segregated lunch counters as part of the Nashville Sit-ins. He has served on the Ways & Means Committee and is head of the Oversight Subcommittee. Despite the disgrace he had brought on his family, he felt that he had been involved in a holy crusade and that getting arrested had been a badge of honor, he said in a 1979 oral history interview housed at Washington University in St. Louis. As a child, Lewis preached to his chickens, and he once joked that his first act of nonviolent protest was refusing to eat the birds. Lewis wasted no time organizing, quickly finding himself on the front lines of the civil rights movement. Mr. Lewiss first arrest came in February 1960, when he and other students demanded service at whites-only lunch counters in Nashville. It's unbelievable. John Lewis fought for equal protection. That means tackling - Grist The troopers responded with tear gas and bullwhips and rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire. The marchers were confronted by Alabama state troopers, who told them to disperse. For years, he accompanied politicians from both sides of the aisle to Selma to ensure the power of Bloody Sunday would remain in the publics memory. His family called him Preacher, and becoming one seemed to be his destiny. He headed the Voter Education Project, registering voters, and finished his bachelors degree in religion and philosophy at Fisk University in Nashville in 1967. Vivian helped organise the Freedom Rides - a protest to integrate buses in the south - and later went on to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Kit Seelye has been the New England bureau chief, based in Boston, since 2012. In the melee, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday, a trooper cracked Mr. Lewiss skull with a billy club, knocking him to the ground, then hit him again when he tried to get up. After his parents bought their own farm 110 acres for $300 John, the third of 10 children, shared in the farm work, leaving school at harvest time to pick cotton, peanuts and corn. People now understand what the struggle was all about. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. FX Johnny Lewis ' death is certainly a tragedy, but it wasn't a complete shock to those around him. Even on the last day of his life, John never stopped working to improve the lives of others," McCarthy said in a statement. Magazines, famed sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Rep. John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon and 'Conscience of Congress,' Dies at 80. Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Its another step down a very, very long road toward freedom, justice for all humankind.. Over time, he watched attitudes change. Mr. Trumps attack marked a sharp detour from the respect that had been accorded Mr. Lewis by previous presidents, including, most recently, Barack Obama. By the force of our demands, our determination and our numbers, he told the cheering throng that August day, we shall splinter the segregated South into a thousand pieces and put them together in the image of God and democracy. Mr. Lewis with other members of Congress staging a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives in June 2016, demanding that the Republican-led body vote on gun control legislation after the Orlando nightclub massacre. October 17, 2022 by Sara Blackwell John Lewis is a man who has made a name for himself in many different arenas. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. ", "Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way," Mr. Obama wrote. "We were kneeling" when "they started beating us with nightsticks, trampling us with horses, releasing the tear gas," Lewis recalled in a 2015 interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." 2023 BBC. John Lewis Cause of Death: Did the Congressman Have COVID-19 Televised images of the beatings of Mr. Lewis and scores of others outraged the nation and galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act, which President Lyndon B. Johnson presented to a joint session of Congress eight days later and signed into law on Aug. 6. Lewis announced in late December that he was undergoing treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer. After Obama was inaugurated in 2009, Lewis asked him to sign a picture of the event. The events of "Bloody Sunday" helped lead Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act, and President Johnson signed it into law on August 6, 1965. VideoThe endangered languages that are fighting back, When Miss World in India threatened 'cultural apocalypse', Belarus leader welcomes Wagner boss into exile. She died in 2012. Barack Obama, Amelia Boynton, right, Rep. John Lewis and the President's family lead a march toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 2015, 50 years after "Bloody Sunday. Lewis spoke out forcefully from the House floor in favor of Trump's impeachment ahead of last year's historic Dec. 18 vote. Lewis was married for 44 years to Lillian Miles, who died in 2012. Inspired by King, he quickly became a leader of the Nashville desegregation movement, organizing sit-ins and boycottswhich he called good trouble, necessary troubleand getting arrested numerous times. Lewis was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington. Her specific cause of death wasn't publicly shared at the time. . She was outgoing and political and could quote Dr. Kings speeches verbatim. Lewis then became one of the original Freedom Riders in 1961, taking buses from the North to the Deep South to protest segregation at interstate bus terminals. Video, The endangered languages that are fighting back, South Koreans become younger under new law, 'The Hajj is my dream but I'm shocked by the cost', Trump countersues E Jean Carroll for defamation, Actor Julian Sands confirmed dead after remains identified, City centre bar forced to close by huge bee swarm, Sacked teacher vows to defend 20 years of absence. Civil rights hero John Lewis has died at age 80 04:17 - Source: CNN Rep. John Lewis on crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge (2018) 01:11 Civil rights hero John Lewis has died at age 80. Be constructive, not destructive. After running unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for Georgias fifth district in 1977, he was elected to serve on the City Council in Atlanta. Bond, though Mr. He dedicated his entire life to nonviolent activism and was an outspoken advocate in the struggle for equal justice in America. This feels and looks so different, he said of the Black Lives Matter movement, which drove the anti-racism demonstrations. He went on to become the youngest person to speak at the March on Washington in 1963. Do we have the raw courage to make at least a down payment on ending gun violence in America?. I thought I saw death, he recalled 50 years after the march, speaking at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, which had sheltered him after the violence. That earned him a derisive Twitter post from the president: Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. Lewis issued a statement on Jan. 5 slamming the drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images for U.S. Lewis, who was born on Feb. 21, 1940 to sharecroppers in Troy, Alabama, attended segregated public schools and counted the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s radio broadcasts as inspiration for his work as an activist. John Lewis, civil rights icon, congressman for 33 years, dead at 80 I believe that somehow and some way if it becomes necessary to use our bodies to help redeem the soul of a nation, then we must do it," Lewis said. "Justice has, indeed, been denied for far too long," he said in a statement to protesters. John Lewis, gun-control advocate and last of the 'Big Six', Twin sisters among 10 killed by Russian strike on Kramatorsk, Anger in Paris after police kill teen in traffic stop, Countdown has begun to end of Putin, say Kyiv officials, Van life is far from glamorous on LA's streets, China crackdown pushes LGBT groups into the shadows, The endangered languages that are fighting back. He was just a week. It was so painful, it made me cry, Mr. Lewis told CBS This Morning. People now understand what the struggle was all about, he said. His parents were sharecroppers, so he had to work hard and support them. Read about our approach to external linking. He always went full force into the fray.. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, he said, it is the struggle of a lifetime., Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the most famous marches in American history, video of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Mr. Floyds neck. She previously worked in the Washington bureau for 12 years, has covered six presidential campaigns and was a pioneer in The Timess online coverage of politics.
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