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John
Lewis, One Of The Giants Of The U.S. Civl Rights Movement,
Speaks At Lawrence University
by Bob Lowe
February 5, 2005
U.S.
Rep. John Lewis, a former associate of the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr., who has been described as "one of the
most courageous people the Civil Rights movement ever produced," will
speak at 11:10 a.m. Tuesday Feb. 8 at the Lawrence University
Memorial Chapel in Appleton.
Lewis’ speech, "Get In The Way," will focus
on "the importance of student activism and involvement
and the protection of human rights and civil liberties." The
address, the third in Lawrence’s five-part 2004-05
convocation series, is free and open to the public.
"I think of Lewis as a true giant of the civil rights
movement," said Professor Thomas Anton, director of
the Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American
Institutions at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "He
is a spellbinding speaker who has a lot of the cadences,
the emotions and the passion of a Martin Luther King Jr."
Lewis
has devoted much of his life to the frontline battles for
human rights and civil liberties, including the historic
1963 March on Washington in which King delivered his "I
Have A Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Hailed
as "a genuine American hero" for his courage
in the face of discrimination and human injustice, Lewis
has been called "the conscience of the U.S. Congress" by
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the leader of the Democratic
Party in the House.
"I’ve seen courage in action on many occasions," said
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona). "I can’t say I’ve
seen anyone possess more of it, and use it for any better
purpose and to any greater effect than John Lewis."
He
was born the son of sharecroppers on Feb. 21, 1940, outside
of Troy, Ala. He grew up in the segregated South of the 1940s
and ’50s. Inspired by radio news broadcasts of Dr.
King and his message, Lewis committed himself at an early
age to human rights activism.
While
attending Fisk University, Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations
at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and participated
in the "Freedom Rides" of the
early 1960s, occupying bus seats reserved for whites only.
He also was beaten severely by angry mobs and arrested by
police for challenging the injustice of Jim Crow segregation
in the South.
At
the age of 23, he became chairman of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee, helping organize student activism
and earning recognition as one of the "Big Six" leaders
of the civil rights movement, joining Martin Luther King
Jr., Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, James Farmer and
Roy Wilkins.
As
SNCC chairman, Lewis was a principal architect of, and
a keynote speaker at, the March on Washington in August
1963. Two years later, Lewis led a march for voters’ rights
in Alabama that ended in violence when marchers were attacked
by state troopers in a brutal confrontation that became known
as "Bloody Sunday." News accounts of the event
helped speed the passage of Voting Rights Act later that
same year.
Lewis
entered public politics in 1981 with his election to the
Atlanta City Council. He joined the U.S. Congress in 1986
and has represented Georgia’s Fifth Congressional
District in Washington the past 19 years.
Profiled
in a 1975 Time magazine article entitled "Saints
Among Us," Lewis’ efforts on behalf of human rights
and civil liberties have been recognized with numerous awards,
including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize,
the John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for
lifetime achievement, the NAACP Spingarn Medal for outstanding
achievement and the National Education Association Martin
Luther King Jr. Memorial Award.
His
biography, "Walking With The Wind: A Memoir of
the Movement," was published in 1998.
In
his memoir, Lewis "passes before contemporary America
not as a living saint, but even better, as living proof that
the noble ideals of nonviolence and interracial democracy
are within the human power of most of us to realize," wrote
Philadelphia Inquirer book reviewer Steve Suitts.
Lewis
earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy
from Fisk University and is a graduate of the American Baptist
Theological Seminary. In addition, he has been recognized
with nearly a dozen honorary degrees from Duke, Harvard and
Princeton universities, among others.
For
comments or questions, boblowe@juno.com or by phone at (920)
731-4603.
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