John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has died.
ATLANTA — John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has died. He was 80. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis’ passing late Friday night, calling him « one of the greatest heroes of American history. » »All of us were humbled to call Congressman Lewis a colleague, and are heartbroken by his passing, » Pelosi said. « May his memory be an inspiration that moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make ‘good trouble, necessary trouble.' »The condolences for Lewis were bipartisan. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Lewis was « a pioneering civil rights leader who put his life on the line to fight racism, promote equal rights, and bring our nation into greater alignment with its founding principles. « Lewis’s announcement in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer – « I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now, » he said – inspired tributes from both sides of the aisle, and an unstated accord that the likely passing of this Atlanta Democrat would represent the end of an era. The announcement of his death came just hours after the passing of the Rev. C. T. Vivian, another civil rights leader who died early Friday at 95. Lewis was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement. He was best known for leading some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. At age 25 – walking at the head of the march with his hands tucked in the pockets of his tan overcoat – Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by police. His skull was fractured, and nationally televised images of the brutality forced the country’s attention on racial oppression in the South. Within days, King led more marches in the state, and President Lyndon Johnson soon was pressing Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. The bill became law later that year, removing barriers that had barred Blacks from voting. »He loved this country so much that he risked his life and its blood so that it might live up to its promise, » President Barack Obama said after Lewis’ death. « Early on, he embraced the principles of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience as the means to bring about real change in this country. »Lewis joined King and four other civil rights leaders in organizing the 1963 March on Washington.
