Holy Ground Moment: Meeting John Lewis

When Mary and I decided to take our Civil Rights Tour in 2012, we, of course, began with our focus on the writings and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the course of our studies and travel we became aware of the significant work done by many others:  Andrew Young, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Medger Evers, James Meredith, Rosa Parks, Daisy Bates, Fred Shuttlesworth, James Forman, Hosea Williams, Bayard Rustin, C. T. Vivian, James Lawson, Fred Gray, James Bevel, and Diane Nash, among others.  But another name that kept coming up, over and over again, was someone younger than all of these leaders:  John Lewis, born in 1940.

Lewis was born in Pike County, Alabama (50 miles south of Montgomery), one of 10 children of sharecroppers, Willie Mae and Eddie Lewis.  He wanted to go to college at Troy State University, but they were not accepting black students.  He had observed the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and wrote him about his predicament.  King paid for a bus ticket for Lewis to come up to see him in Montgomery, and convinced him instead to attend American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, from which he graduated, and then, later, Fisk University, also in Nashville.

It was here in Nashville that Lewis first learned about the power of active non-violence by attending workshops held in the basement of Clark Memorial United Methodist Church by the Rev. James Lawson and Rev. Kelly Miller Smith. There he became a dedicated adherent to the discipline and philosophy of nonviolence, which he still practices today.

 

John Lewis is at lunch counter sit-in in Nashville, head turned to the side.

Lewis was first involved in putting this philosophy into action in the Nashville Sit-ins, which he helped organize with Diane Nash and others in February of 1960, when Lewis was only 20 years old.  (For more on the Sin-ins, see blog post of 9/12/12).

Lewis and fellow Freedom Rider, James Zwerg, after being beaten in Montgomery

The next spring, in 1961, he was part of the Freedom Ride from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans.  Lewis was the first rider to be assaulted, in Rock Hill, South Carolina, beaten as he attempted to enter a “whites only” rest room.  Later on in the ride, in Montgomery, Lewis was beaten into unconsciousness as he was getting off the bus.

 

In 1963 Lewis was the youngest person to speak at the March on Washington, and he stood by Dr. King as he gave what many consider to be the greatest oratorical event of the 20^th century, the “I Have a Dream” speech.

It was in 1963 that Lewis was elected chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee).  Lewis spent the summer of 1964 helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer, which involved college students in helping blacks get registered to vote.  This work would lead Lewis eventually to Selma, where, on Sunday morning, March 7, 1965 (what would become known as Bloody Sunday), he and Hosea Williams would lead marchers, intent on marching all the way to Montgomery to secure voting rights in Alabama, across the Edmund Pettus bridge, where Lewis’ skull would be fractured by Alabama State Troopers.

Lewis holding picture of himself being beaten in Selma.

Finally, on the third try, marchers made the 5-day, 54 mile march to Montgomery, arriving on March 25 at the capitol steps to demand voting rights.  Later that year, on August 6, the Voting Rights Act would be signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.

John Lewis arriving in Montgomery with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

During the year after we returned from our Civil Rights Tour I taught an 8-session class on the Civil Rights Movement.  I talked so much about John Lewis that the pastor I work with gave me a portrait of him.  I then wondered if there was a way to  have Representative Lewis sign that portrait.

My opportunity came on my birthday, August 30, in 2013. The Library of Congress was hosting their annual Book Fair, and Lewis, along with Andrew Aydin, had just published the first of three graphic novels, in a trilogy called March, in which he documents his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. He was listed as being present to sign copies of that book.

 

I stood in line and when I got to the front, I asked Congressman Lewis if he would sign not only the book, but my portrait of him, stating:  “Last year I did a tour of Civil Rights sites, and you were everywhere.  You were at the Nashville Sit-Ins, you were beaten twice on the Freedom Rides, you spoke at the March on Washington, you were beaten on the Selma bridge.  It is such an honor to finally meet you.”  Congressman Lewis signed both items, stood up, reached out his hand, and said, “It is good to meet you, brother.”

As a member of the Newseum, I have had two more opportunities to hear Congressman Lewis speak and to have the other books in the trilogy signed.  Book Two came out in 2015 when my son was in town, and so we went together.  Lewis told of the day a man from South Carolina came to his office with his son.  Inquiring why someone from South Carolina was coming to see him, the man confessed that he was one of the people who had beaten him during the Freedom Ride.  He had come with his son to ask for Lewis’ forgiveness.  They embraced, and through their tears, experienced the kind of reconciliation only confession and forgiveness can bring.

Book Three was published this past December, and this time my wife and I went to hear Lewis speak.   He talked about his experiences practicing active non-violence for over 50 years, which has included not only the beatings already mentioned, but being arrested some 40 times during the 1960’s and several more times while he has been in Congress.  No wonder Lewis has often been called the “Conscience of the U. S. Congress.”

As he signed our copy of Book Three, I was able to tell Congressman Lewis how much he has inspired me, how in my study and experience I have concluded that active non-violence is the most powerful path to meaningful change, and how grateful I am for having the chance to meet him and hear him speak, wishing him blessings in his life and work.

Each time I have met him, and experienced his humble and gentle compassion, along with his committed passion, I have felt I have been on holy ground.

Representative Lewis Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011