Freedom Rider: Legend John Lewis Dead At 80

Former civil rights activist and longtime U.S. Congressman John Lewis died today in Atlanta at the age of 80. The African-American, one of the icons of the Martin Luther King era, was battling pancreatic cancer. Representative Lewis announced in late December, 2019 in Washington D.C. that he was undergoing treatment for stage 4 of the disease. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, confirmed his death.

“John Lewis was a member of the civil rights movement whose connection, faith and bravery transformed our nation,” stated Pelosi. Pelosi cited the discrimination that Lewis met at lunch counters, the courage he showed facing down violence, and the leadership he brought to Congress for more than 30 years.

In 1965, during the first of the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama marches, Lewis suffered a cranial perforation in an encounter with the police. The images shocked Americans, and the day became known as Bloody Sunday. It gave even more strength to the other two civil rights marches that began in segregated Selma towards Montgomery.

The repercussion of the images and the strength of the marches resulted in a victory for the movement after two months — approval of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Also in the 1960s, at the age of 21, John Lewis helped found the Freedom Riders movement, a group that fought for African-Americans’ rights to travel by bus in any seat. The Freedom Riders suffered attacks from the segregation group Ku Klux Klan.

Racism did not prevent Lewis from continuing the fight for civil rights and walking with Martin Luther King in the famous March on Washington in 1963, where King made history with his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

Elected in 1986, Lewis served in the U.S. Congress for thirty-three years, where he fought for LGBTQ causes and the continuous improvement of minorities’ individual rights in the United States.
By Lorena Campos/Thenews2