Gratitude Friday 7 18 25 John Lewis an American Freedom Fighter

John Lewis, young mentee of Martin Luther King, veteran nonviolent activist of the Freedom Rides and other actions vital to the civil rights movement, one of the key organizers of the 1963 March on Washington and member of Congress serving for 17 terms representing Atlanta Georgia died five years and one day ago. It was a significant loss for our nation. On July 17^th, 2020, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and all federal properties, including military bases, as a mark of respect for Lewis's public service. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also directed the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, the city Lewis represented, ordered flags lowered to half-staff indefinitely. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp requested state flags be flown at half-staff until the sunset of Lewis's interment. Our nation mourned the loss and celebrated his life.

A few years before he died, he wheeled past me on a scooter in a hallway of the Cannon Office Building. It was early evening; there was no one else in the Hall and I had just got off the phone. I looked up and there he was. We made eye contact, and he nodded hello to me and raised his hand, I did the same back to him. My eyes welled up with tears, I am pretty sure he saw them. Recently, when I recounted this to a colleague, we both teared up and she acknowledged that one of the reasons she never pursued a meeting with him was she was unsure if she could get through it and maintain composure.

My guess is that John Lewis experienced people becoming emotional quite often over the years. I know why I teared up as I unexpectedly made eye contact with him. Few people had as much impact on the course of our nation as John Lewis did. His parents were sharecroppers in rural Pike County, Alabama. He had little access to education but loved to read. He was not permitted access to the local library because it was segregated. He did not let that stop him and he educated himself by reading everything he could get his hands on. He first heard of MLK at age 15 and he wrote to him. King knew of him at first as the "the boy from Troy." Later on, as a young man he became a mentee of King and as we know now was a key figure in civil rights history.

I Love quotes, a few of his to share:

“Every generation leaves behind a legacy. What that legacy will be is determined by the people of that generation. What legacy do you want to leave behind?”

“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”

“We are one people, one family, the human family, and what affects one of us affects us all.”

“Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.”

“Whatever good work you do, whatever powerful, profound work—do it because it’s right or because it’s necessary. Do it to make change for the better. Do it because you know you must. Don’t do it for credit.”

“We need to make books available to children so they can easily learn about the world, and they can follow their imaginations. Children who read maintain their sense of wonder and ask questions—necessary questions—that make us examine why things are the way they are.”

“It is the responsibility, yet the individual choice, of each of us to use the light we have to dispel the work of darkness, because if we do not, then the power of falsehood rises.”

“When you burn down a building or topple a car, the violence drown out the injustice of what’s being done to you. It puts you on the same moral level as the people whose violence you are protesting. You’re no longer on the higher ground or plane. You make enemies of the people you need to win over to effect change.”

I am grateful for that chance encounter in a hallway in the Cannon Office Building and my brief encounter for this great American. I am grateful for his example and all he accomplished over his life. What are you grateful for today?