Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), was a renowned civil rights leader. He served more than three decades in Congress, but sadly on Friday, July 17, 2020 at the age of 80, John Lewis passed away.
Lewis was a courageous activist during the height of the civil rights movement. During the March on Washington to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. on “Bloody Sunday,†Lewis made history. He went from activist to serve in the House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district. He was elected to Congress in 1986 and served 17 terms representing the Atlanta-area district. In a statement The Congressional Black Caucus stated that “John Lewis was known as the conscience of our caucus.†Rep. Lewis served in Congress until his death.
Lewis, the youngest keynote speaker at the March on Washington in 1963, was the only person who delivered remarks at the event to witness Barack Obama winning election as the nation’s first African American president 45 years later. Lewis asked President Obama to sign a commemorative photograph at his 2009 inauguration, the newly sworn-in president wrote: “Because of you, John†meaning that it was possible for an African American Man to become president because of the work that John Lewis did in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
Lewis was born on Feb. 21, 1940 to a family of sharecroppers on a farm outside of Troy, Al, where he attended segregated public schools. Lewis was inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Martin Luther King, Jr., so began his work of what he liked to call “good trouble.†In 1961, Lewis became one of the 13 original Freedom Riders. The Freedom Ride was initiated to pressure the federal government to enforce the Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) that declared segregated interstate bus travel to be unconstitutional. The Freedom Rides also exposed the passivity of the government regarding violence against citizens of the country who were simply acting in accordance with the law.
John Lewis or should we say “Good Trouble†will be greatly missed. Rest well Sir, job well done!
John Lewis return to Edmund Pettus Bridge 
John Lewis with President Obama 
John Lewis and Mayor Muriel Bowser 
John Lewis at Howard University 
Good Trouble 
Good Trouble on Edmund Pettus Bridge 
Rep. John Lewis 
John Lewis with President Obama 
Well Done Sir! 
Good Trouble Tweeting
