The congressman and civil rights icon spoke at the Bates College commencement in 2016, urging students to ‘be a headlight, not a taillight.’<\/b>
\nU. S. Rep. John Lewis\u2019 impact on Maine political leaders and young people alike was powerful.
One of the Legislature\u2019s two Black members, Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, said Saturday he had been \u201cgrieving all day\u201d over Lewis\u2019 death. He called Lewis \u201ca man of unparalleled stature, a saint, if there ever was one. His passing is a sad day for America.\u201d
Lewis received an honorary degree at Bates College in Lewiston in 2016, and gave a commencement address in which he urged the 462 graduates to serve humanity. Bates was founded by abolitionists in 1855, and has been open to students of all racial backgrounds ever since.
In his speech, which brought several standing ovations, Lewis spoke of how Martin Luther King Jr. took him under his wing. The Georgia congressman told the students to \u201cbe a headlight, not a taillight,\u201d and he encouraged them to follow in his footsteps by getting \u201cinto trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.\u201d
\u201cYou must find a way to get in the way,\u201d he said.
He also spoke of the great influence that his mentor, a notable Bates graduate, had on him: Benjamin Mays, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Bates in 1920 and became a preacher, civil rights activist, and president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. Lewis said it was Bates College that gave \u201cthis man, this beautiful spirit, this beautiful soul, son of slaves\u201d the tools to do his work and \u201cbecome emancipated.\u201d
\u201cIf it hadn\u2019t been for Dr. Mays, I am not sure there would have been a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,\u201d Lewis said.
Hickman met Lewis in Washington in October 2015, after being nominated by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, for an Angels in Adoption Congressional Award for his work to outlaw unauthorized custody transfers of children. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, helped arrange the meeting between Hickman and Lewis on the steps of the U. S. Capitol after a voting session.
\u201cIn front of her and Congresswoman Gwen Moore, who represents the Milwaukee district where I grew up, John Lewis grabbed my elbow as he looked me directly in the eye,\u201d Hickman recalled Saturday. \u201cWhen a Black man, an elder, grabs your elbow, he\u2019s telling you that he entrusts you to carry forward the work. The moment took my breath away. We will continue to make good trouble, necessary trouble, and remake this county we so deeply love live up to its promise of liberty and justice for all. John Lewis will live in our hearts and souls forever. His truth is marching on.\u201d
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