Civil right movement loses two icons
The passing of Congressman John Lewis reminded me of the racial injustice I saw as a child. I grew up when Georgia had Jim Crow laws. My first experience with Jim Crow laws as a child was when I went with Andrew (African American) to take a load of apples to market. On our way back Andrew gave me some money and told me to buy us some hot dogs.
I asked, “Why don’t we go in and eat our hot dogs?” He replied, “Don’t you see that sign on the door, no colored allowed”?
I followed the attempt of the African Americans to obtain equality. I followed Martin Luther King’s attempt to make equality a reality. I personally follow his approach not to judge people on the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I believe in the right of peaceful protest. This was the reason Dr. King’s movement had such an impact. He believed in peaceful protest, not violence.
When Congressman John Lewis and the Rev. C.T. Vivian died, America lost two of the leaders of the civil rights movement that followed Martin Luther King’s nonviolent approach. Both were part of the major force of the civil rights movement. The beatings they endured, and the nonviolent protests these two participated in awakened the nation’s conscience and precipitated change. In spite of beatings and arrests, they were unyielding in the demand for justice.
John Lewis was a young man when he contacted Martin Luther King, and Dr. King sent this young 23-year-old a bus ticket so he could join the movement. John Lewis became the epitome of “good trouble” – his favorite saying and approach to confront racial injustice without violence.
Congressman Lewis worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King in the struggle for racial equality in the 1960s. Their “nonviolent” protests effectively addressed the injustices that were rampant.
Congressman John Lewis was more than an icon of the civil rights movement. He was a beloved Georgia congressman, a political force and a proponent for marginalized individuals nationwide.
C.T. Vivian was also a major force in the civil rights movement. He worked alongside Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the struggle for racial equality. He, along with John Lewis, was part of the Freedom Riders. These civil rights activists rode through the southern states to make sure bus terminals and other public facilities were not segregated.
Both Congressman Lewis and the Rev. Vivian had strong religious backgrounds. The Rev. Vivian and other ministers founded the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Both men will be missed but their influence for non-violence protests, which came from their Christian background, will continue. Society needs to adopt their non-violent approach.