John Miles Lewis Remembered
Congressman and civil rights leader, John Lewis, was remembered today, Thursday, July 30, 2020, at his longtime place of worship, Ebenezer Baptist church.
Congressman Lewis, the son of sharecroppers, was born on February 21, 1940 in Pike County, Alabama. Before his service in the House of Representatives, 5th Congressional District of Georgia (1987-2020), he was a civil rights icon.
In 1961 Lewis became one of the original Freedom Riders; 13 activists who protested the segregation of interstate transportation facilities, including bus stations, as being unconstitutional.
Three former presidents attended Representative Lewis’s funeral; Clinton, Bush and Obama, while President Carter, 95, and his wife, Rosalynn, were unable to attend. The Carter’s sent a letter, which was read aloud by Pastor Raphael Warnock. Raphael Warnock, From the Pulpit to Politics, Doesn’t Shy From ‘Uncomfortable’ Truths – The New York Times (nytimes.com) President Obama gave the eulogy honoring John Lewis.