SNCC 60th

Speaking to young people he often challenged them: “If you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, do something about it. Say something. Do something. Have the courage. Have the backbone to get in the way.”pic.twitter.com/kv8pMEhejT

He was a son of the South, and we could easily tick off a list of his heroics in the face of the awful terrorism used to protect white supremacy in that region.pic.twitter.com/nVLW2Gfz69

Sometimes we in SNCC were awed by his bravery, as we were by the bravery of many of those around us from Fannie Lou Hamer to Amzie Moore to Ella Baker and countless others.pic.twitter.com/tPYzfB4NAQ

For none of us in the Movement stood alone. We were all part of a larger community of those who had long struggled for justice, some before we were born. Beyond that, John was also a son of America, well aware of its flaws, particularly with regard to racial inequities.pic.twitter.com/bos6CLTj19

He was always challenging the shortcomings that prevented this country from achieving its promise. He believed that Black lives mattered and struggled to make this so. It is this that links the life of John Lewis to today’s struggle, led by the movement for Black lives.pic.twitter.com/SSETjYwC8N

Do not think then, of John Lewis the icon, or John Lewis the congressperson, or even John Lewis “the legend,” but rather, of the John Lewis who almost from childhood was always willing to “get in the way” of wrong.pic.twitter.com/KcokXkBmW0

His parents were sharecroppers and he grew up on a small farm in rural Alabama; so in following his life, we are forced to consider the potential power of ordinary people who decide to stand up, speak for themselves, and fight for what is right.pic.twitter.com/Qiw1Vte8fP

Like those who worked with us in the 1960s, these are the people who compose today’s movement and are in part enabled by the earlier work of John Lewis and others.pic.twitter.com/OGuxuIRKAG