Reform Revolution Pays Tribute
Reform Revolution is saddened by the news of the passing of Congressman John Lewis. RRP is dedicated to creating content that will inform you and inspire you to educate yourself and others. And we will do that today. But we will also share the testimonials of some of RRP’s members and their thoughts on Congressman Lewis. Avia, Alix, Camie, and Julia, had the privilege of meeting the Congressman early on in their activism careers. Before we delve into the life and work of Congressman John Lewis, we wan’t to pay our respects and share what some members of RRP have to say. Rest in Power John Lewis.
“Being a teenager at the time of meeting Congressman Lewis, I was in a very critical stage of my life. His activism had inspired our nation and had inspired me as well. From then on, I never once questioned my position in this world. I knew exactly what I needed to do as a young person. I will forever thank him for teaching me to never underestimate myself and to never underestimate the power of young people. After learning about his cancer diagnosis, it was a very tough moment for me. I kept trying to find a way to connect the past to the present. How can I do right by the people who set me up for success? I choose every day to practice the principles of nonviolence, to educate myself, and to teach others the concepts of basic respect and kindness. Congressman Lewis has really been a testimony of true grit. I can only hope his legacy lives on through the work of our generation.”
-Julia Mariano, Executive Director
“I met Congressman John Lewis during my junior year of high school, at a time where I was developing and defining my sense of self. Learning about his personal story and lifelong fight for justice are some of the reasons I was driven to join RRP years later. With this terribly tragic news comes the reminder that it is our job as young people to continue the invaluable work in honor of generations before us, any way we can. Rest in Power, John Lewis.”
- Alix Mahon, Grassroots Co-Director
“My heart is heavy today. From a young age, Congressman John Lewis embodied a lifelong dedication to fighting for what he knew to be just and right, regardless of popular opinion. I closely carry the memory of hearing his conviction and passion firsthand in 2015 and again two years later as a personal reminder that every one of us has a purpose in this movement and a duty to continue making good, necessary trouble. I truly believe that the arc of the moral universe does ultimately bend towards justice, and aim to continue developing RRP into a platform that, through education, equips our generation to carry on the legacy that John Lewis and countless others had made their lives’ purpose. May his pure grit inspire us to keep moving and always, always exercise our right to vote. Rest in Power.”
- Avia Matossian, Communications Coordinator
"I know he was proud to see the continued protests across the country against police brutality and racism. Having had the incredible honor of meeting the congressman and hearing him speak 5 years ago I ask that you honor his legacy by voting, by going out and demanding your rights, by causing trouble. Good trouble. When those in power are unwilling to listen, make them. Do not let your voices go unheard. Come November, remember what Congressman Lewis spent his life fighting for. Please, go vote. It is the best way I can think of to honor a man who never gave up the fight for freedom, equality, and justice. May he rest in power.”
- Camie Osterlund, Research Coordinator
We honor the legacy of Congressman John Lewis.
John Lewis loved many things. Two of which were chickens and the United States of America.
“I don’t know where it came from, but I wanted to be a minister. Somehow, I transferred my desire to be a minister, and the responsibility of raising the chickens, somehow it got together and I literally started to preach to the chickens.... My first act of maybe a non-violent protest was when my parents would kill the chicken and I refused to eat the chicken. I went two or three days refusing to speak to my mother, father because they killed the chicken. I thought it was so wrong…”
Explaining the connection between the Congressman and chickens might be far fetched for some. But this story speaks volumes. We are born knowing we will grow into individuality. Racism and violence are learned behaviors, just like anti-racism and nonviolence. John Lewis and his chickens are a testament to his roots, a non-violent soul who saw a greater value of life at an early age.
Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
Lewis was far more than just a boy who preached to chickens. He was a bright young student who saw the value in life at an age many don’t. John Robert Lewis was born outside of Troy, Alabama, on February 21, 1940. Martin Luther King Jr. later called him “The Boy from Troy.” In 1957, Lewis attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. This is where he learned about non-violence and nonviolent protest. He helped organize the sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters and was arrested a number of times. His fearlessness led to a different type of protest. Being arrested for protesting became the noble and honorable thing to do. Lewis would call this “good trouble.” His actions in his early years had catapulted him into the Civil Rights Movement, and his next organized protest was the Freedom Rides in 1961.
The Freedom Rides
The Freedom Riders of 1961 were a group of White and Black civil rights activists who traveled through the American South to protest segregated bus terminals. The Freedom Riders attempted to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations in Alabama, South Carolina, and other Southern states. The groups were arrested by police officers and faced incredibly horrific violence from White protestors. This form of protest became an international story and brought attention to the civil rights movement. On May 14, 1961, an angry mob of about 200 White people surrounded the first Greyhound bus in Anniston, Alabama. Later in Birmingham, Alabama, riders were also beaten, some with metal pipes. Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor stated that he posted no police protection at the station because it was Mother’s Day, although he knew the Freedom Riders were arriving and violence awaited them. The Freedom Rides were pivotal in not only the civil rights movement, but for Lewis personally.
SNCC
In 1963 Lewis became the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC became the “students of the movement,” a coalition of young people who created their own group to organize protests, boycotts, and sit-ins. The new group played a large part in the Freedom Rides aimed at desegregating buses and in the marches organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC. Three of SNCC’s members, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, died at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan during the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964. Under the leadership of James Forman, Bob Moses, and Marion Barry, SNCC also directed much of the Black voter registration drives in the South.
The March on Washington
John Lewis was the youngest person to speak during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He had already become a prominent figure in his early 20s, and up until July 17th, 2020 was the last surviving member of the movement’s “Big Six” leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young. Months after the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act became law, although it did not make it easier for Black Americans to vote in the U.S. That’s where John Lewis’s activism in Selma came to play a role.
Bloody Sunday and the Selma Marches
Many people know about the marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and maybe even first learned about John Lewis from this specific event. Lewis had already been in Selma for several months fighting Jim Crow Laws and discrimination that made it impossible for Black citizens to vote. John Lewis and Hosea Williams led a march in Selma, Alabama on Sunday, March 7th, 1965. After crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the marchers were met by a lineup of state troopers and deputized White civilians. While peacefully marching in protest of the murder of a young Black activist named Jimmie Lee Jackson and in support of Black voting rights, the nearly 600 men, women, and children were beaten, clubbed, and forcefully charged by troopers on horseback. The events on this bridge were televised and this day was dubbed “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis walked away sustaining a fractured skull, the worst injury suffered that day.
Amidst public outrage following the broadcasts of “Bloody Sunday,” organizers called for civilians, especially clergy members, to come to Selma to participate in a second march on March 9th. Unable to gain the proper court orders in time for the march, the organizers, now with MLK among them, led 2,500 protesters to the Edmund Pettus Bridge where they were once again met by state troopers. King led them in prayer, then turned around and walked back the way they came in what is known as “Turnaround Tuesday.” That night, Reverend James Reeb, who traveled from Boston to participate in the march, was beaten and murdered by 4 members of the KKK, leaving behind a wife and 4 children.
President Johnson called for expansive voting rights legislation, and on March 17th the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced in Congress. Soon after on March 21st, 8,000 people, including John Lewis, Fred Shuttlesworth, and MLK, began the 54 mile trek from Selma to Montgomery protected by the federalized Alabama National Guard. On March 25th, 25,000 people marched to the State Capitol Building where MLK spoke and protesters handed over a petition to Governor Wallace.
“The vote is the most powerful tool of nonviolence that we have.”
Service as a Congressman
John Lewis was serving his 17th term as a US Congressman for Georgia’s 5th district, since initially being sworn in in 1987. A partisan Democrat, a fierce liberal, and extremely independent, Congressman Lewis served as a leader of civil rights in the House. He adamantly supported gun-safety laws, health care reform, conservation laws, and LGBT rights. On the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Lewis would lead a pilgrimage to Selma, retracing the route across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Congressman John Lewis was awarded the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in tribute to his tireless work.
As he was bestowing the Medal of Freedom in 2011, Obama said of Lewis "all these years later, he is known as the Conscience of the United States Congress, still speaking his mind on issues of justice and equality. And generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind– an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now.”